Information collected through the Legal Programmes of Casa Alianza Nicaragua and Honduras confirms that Guatemala is the most violent country of the region. During 2005, Nicaragua reported 95 murders of children and teenagers, against 163 in 2004.
During 2005, Honduras reported the murder of 142 children under 18 years old. Compared to last year's statistics, during 2004 the number of reported murders of children and young people (0-23 years old) was 395, against 379 in 2005.
Every death of a child is a brutality, and through year 2005 Casa Alianza witnessed tragic stories of the children murdered, as the case of Alejandra, a 17 years old girl who had a five-months pregnancy. Her body was found last January in a village near Guatemala City with several gunshots.
The same month, the body of Astrid Villagrán, a 16 years old girl, was found dismembered. First, the police found her head, then the arms and legs, and then the rest of her body. Three days later, a 6 years old boy, died for a gunshot he received at his own home.
February 2005 was recorded for the murders of Ludsvin Sut, a 10 years old boy, who was strangled with a wire and burned with cigarettes, after being kidnapped in a village from the countryside. A few days later, the body of Adolfo Gustavo Miranda, a 8 years old boy, was found in a bag after being strangled. The same month, Yanci Abigail, a 7 years old girl was murdered with her mother, at a hotel located in Guatemala City.
All year, Casa Alianza witnessed such tragic stories. They are only a sample of the 334 murders that seemed to occur with impunity. Day after day, the level of violence continues to shock Guatemalan society, and the demand for greater safety and security was a major issue in the mass media during 2005.
It is vital that the State of Guatemala take actions to protect the most vulnerable population of all: children.
Last June, the Congress of Guatemala declared 13 March the Day of No Violence Against Children and Teenagers. Nevertheless, the wave of violence continues to take the lives of children and teenagers, and most murders are committed in impunity.
The mission of Casa Alianza is to protect suffering children while treating them with absolute respect and unconditional love. This commitment compels us to denounce situations in which children are the victims of violence. We demand that the Government of Guatemala and all the countries of Central America take concrete actions to protect the lives of children.
Casa Alianza is an independent, nonprofit organisation dedicated to the rehabilitation and defense of street children in Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico and Nicaragua. Casa Alianza is the Latin American branch of the New York based Covenant House.
