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CORRUPT POLICE PURGED IN GUATEMALA AS FEMICIDE SOARS.

Article Excerpt
As crime escalates beyond crisis proportions in Guatemala, the police have been shown to be a significant part of the problem. The numbers of criminals and alleged criminals wearing the Policia Nacional Civil (PNC) badge is enormous. In January, the Procuraduria de Derechos Humanos (PDH) charged that 639 PNC officers were implicated in a variety of crimes during 2004. The nation's ombud, Sergio Morales, brought the charges before Minister of Government Carlos Vielmann and to the Public Ministry.

Morales said that, during the past year, the PDH opened 383 cases against the officers, alleging extortion, burglary, robbery, and murder, and moved them on to the attorney general for investigation and prosecution. Meanwhile, the PNC fired 542 officers for corruption, kidnapping, assault, drug trafficking, homicide, and rape. There are about 22,000 officers in the PNC.

"The purge is being carried out forcefully and will continue during 2005," said PNC chief Erwin Sperissen. So far this year, 18 have been fired. Sperissen said he was not surprised by the number of criminally involved cops, "if you take into account the situation the PNC is in."

The Fiscalia de Delitos Administrativos has more than 800 accusations under investigation. The way in which the cases are being handled prevents estimation of...

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