The Secretary-General of the Organization of American States (OAS) and the Director of the Secretariat for Multi-Dimensional Security of the OAS have met with imprisoned gang leaders in El Salvador at the request of the El Salvadorian government.

These meetings have taken place in a context where the general population is not directly positive to these meetings as the gang leaders are the main responsible for most of the crimes, insecurity and cruelty that create havoc in the communities where of course the general population live and work. The people wonder why these gang leaders should be given any space at all given their activities. Gangs in Central America are a huge issue as they involve so many youth, and also youth who are accustomed to the use of violence with the history of long civil wars in Guatemala and El Salvador.

In the OAS context, the Inter-American Court for Human Rights has issued some very important decisions on gangs for instance concerning Honduras, and with the different gangs and the ever growing drug trafficking to bring in youth into if not a political process but meaningful living is a true challenge. Even if the regions are different, the African Charter and the Kenyan Constitution could still serve as examples of how to give room for youth in very challenging circumstances.

In Ann-Charlotte’s upcoming book on “Children and Youth in Armed Conflict”, she has written about some of the decisions that the Inter-American Court of Human Rights has taken with regards to the rights of children in armed conflict and post-conflict situations (such as the Maras in Honduras), and the extensive decisions that the Constitutional Court of Colombia has taken with regards to the rights of internally displaced children and youth, including Auto 251.

LINKS & REFERENCES
Organization of American States (OAS): http://www.oas.org

The Secretariat for Multidimensional Security (OAS): www.oas.org/en/sms/default.asp

Destiny’s Children – A Legacy of War and Gangs: http://www.destinyschildren.org