Over 800 Children Killed in Central America in 2005
The humanitarian organization Casa Alianza has warned that some 800 children were killed in Central America in 2005.

Guatemala topped the list as the most dangerous country for children in the region, reporting 334 minors killed in 2004 and 384 in 2005 in the capital alone.

The communiqué issued by the US-based regional institution noted that crimes against children under 18 years of age increased 14 percent in Guatemala City, compared to 2004.

However, Nicaragua and Honduras reported a slight drop in child killings, which are generally carried out with knives or sharp objects.

Nicaragua reported 95 murdered children in the whole country in 2005, in contrast to 163 in the previous year.

Honduras, which Casa Alianza has always accused of extrajudicial executions of children and youths, reported 379 such killings last year, compared to 393 in 2004.

Over the past six years, more than 520 minors have been victims of violence, above all in penitentiary centers by people under 23 years of age.

Casa Alianza attributed 23 percent of those murders to state security officials.

The organization, which dedicates to rehabilitate and defend street children in Mexico, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua, stressed that most of those responsible for brutally murdering children remain unpunished.