Constitution obliges president to abide by resignation of PNC director | News from El Salvador

Article 131 of the republic’s constitution obliges President Bukele to comply with the dismissal of the director of the national civil police, Mauricio Arriaza, for serious human rights violations, after being recommended by the legislative assembly, constitutional lawyers explained.

By stipulation it says: “Art. 131.- It corresponds to the Legislative Assembly … Recommend to the Presidency of the Republic the resignation of the ministers of state; or to the corresponding bodies, those of officials of autonomous official institutions, as it deems appropriate, as a result of the examination of their special committees or of the interpellation, as appropriate. The Assembly’s resolution will be binding when referring to heads of public security or state intelligence for serious violations of human rights ”.

The recommendation to remove Arriaza was approved on Thursday by 58 votes by a qualified majority for his participation in the belch of army troops and police units, led by President Bukele, in the Blue Chamber of the Assembly, which was considered a failed coup.

SEE ALSO: Assembly Orders 9F Immediate Resignation of Police Chief

As a matter of fact, the 9F Committee’s final report concluded that the director of police committed “serious human rights violations”, before and during the military takeover of the Assembly on February 9, 2020, so the Deputies’ petition becomes binding , that is, President Nayib Bukele is bound to abide by it, according to constitutional lawyers René Hernández Valiente and Francisco Bertrand Galindo.

“ What the president has to do is pay attention otherwise the legal procedures will have to be followed so that the resolution is fulfilled, it would be through the prosecution, the courts or the Constitutional Chamber, the most important thing is to have determined that there were serious violations human rights ”, said Bertrand Galindo.

In this regard, the Assembly’s final report approved yesterday states that on February 8, the day before 9F, Arriaza Chicas took part in the acts of “intimidation” in the homes of several opposition representatives.

In addition, the right to vote was violated by the pressure exerted by the public security authorities on the delegates to vote on an issue on which they disagreed, while the legislators represent the popular will of the citizens when they serve in their office. elected through public elections.

SEE ALSO: Opposition representatives denounced that PNC harassed them before and during 9F

This constitutes a violation of the right to vote enshrined in the Constitution as a human right, according to the legislative report and the opposition deputies.

The Organic Law of the Police also expresses the mandate that the Director of the Police Entity has in the field of protecting the rights of citizens.

Article 13 of this regulation states that “the members of the police force shall at all times fulfill the duties imposed by law, serve the community and protect all persons from illegal acts, in accordance with the high degree of responsibility. required by his position; that they will respect and protect human dignity; they will uphold and defend the human rights of all people ”.

Of the contempt that Bukele has shown to the Assembly’s mandate to dismiss the director of the police, the constitutional lawyers explain that he is guilty of the crime of “disobedience” and Arriaza Chicas in that of “usurpating functions” , both punished by criminal regulations, for which they urged the Attorney General, Raúl Melara, to enforce the constitution of the republic, in the sense of carrying out the Assembly’s mandate.

“The call is to the prosecutor, if the Assembly has already decided, if the president is disobeyed, the order itself has already been issued, the law is binding only on the head of security and on the director of the OIE. It is contradictory for Bukele to say that he is reforming the Constitution to improve it, but he violates it, ”said Hernández Valiente.