Impunity On The Rise Across Latin America, Warns New UN Report

A new report from the United Nations’ office on drug and crime says that impunity for murder is back on the rise in Latin America, where criminal justice systems have long been considered unreliable. Only 24 people are convicted for every 100 murders, compared to a global average of 43 per 100. “The level of impunity for homicide in the Americas is thus rather high, which may be partly due to the fact that the region’s high intensity of homicide is a drain on criminal justice resources,” the office wrote.

Impunity is actually rather high for homicide across the Americas -- including the US and Canada -- when taken as a region and compared to other parts of the world, and the office concluded that it has grown across the Americas in recent years. Murder rates are higher in the Americas that anywhere else in the world. It tends to be more frequently connected to organized crime or gang activity, which the report says usually see lower rates of “clearance” -- where police arrest a suspect and identify them for prosecution -- and conviction. And a much greater portion are committed with firearms: 66 percent, compared to 28 percent in Africa and Asia.

But these problems are particularly acute in certain parts of Latin America. Central America in particular has a homicide rate four times the global average of 6.2 per 100,000 people, tied with Southern Africa for the highest rate. South America -- especially Colombia, where the rate has been decreasing but remains high, and Venezuela -- and the Caribbean, which is an increasingly common route for drug shipments bound to the US, are also in the top five.