Bystanders wait as police inspect a bus during a patrol operation in Santa Ana, El Salvador, June 30, 2022. © 2022 Camilo Freedman/NurPhoto via AP |
“I suffered like you can’t imagine…It’s very hard to live there, you experience things that you never expect to experience in your life.”
“Carlos” (not his real name), a man from Sal Salvador, described being beaten, clubbed, and kicked while in detention, after police arrested him and accused him of being part of a gang. While detained, police beat him with clubs. “Miguel,” a pseudonym for another man, was held in total darkness without water or basic hygiene. He described prisoners getting sick and guards not caring at all.
These are only two of more than 58,000 people arrested between March and November under El Salvador’s “state of emergency”, enacted to combat a peak in reported gang violence in the country. More than 1,600 children were among those arrested.
Human Rights Watch and Cristosal, a rights organization focusing on parts of Central America, interviewed more than 1,100 people across El Salvador for this new report. We heard many stories like Carlos' and Miguel’s and found a pattern of arbitrary arrests, enforced disappearances, torture of detainees, and significant due process violations.
The circumstances of many deaths in custody during this time suggest state responsibility, we found. |
WATCH: Abuses under El Salvador’s ‘State of Emergency’ |
Widespread violence and soaring crime rates have affected Salvadorans for decades, ranking El Salvador as one of the most violent countries in the world. The government has long responded with iron-fisted policies in the name of public safety, relying on mass detention and incarceration of any suspected gang members.
The raids conducted by police and security forces during the state of emergency took place predominantly in low-income neighborhoods. These mass arrests have led to the detention of hundreds of people with no apparent connections to gang activity.
One mother said that when police arrested her son, they told her, “We can arrest anyone we want.”
El Salvadoran President Bukele’s state of emergency was supposed to last 30 days. It has instead been extended eight times, and government attacks on democratic institutions, independent media, and the judiciary have enabled horrific abuses to persist.
But if the government really wants to put an end to the country’s cycle of violence, it should replace the state of emergency with a security policy that gives Salvadorans the safety they deserve.
|
|
| Russian forces’ widespread and repeated targeting of Ukraine’s energy infrastructure appears primarily designed to instill terror among the population in violation of the laws of war. |
|
|
|
|
|
| | Hackers backed by the Iranian government have targeted two Human Rights Watch staff members and at least 18 other high-profile activists, journalists, researchers, academics, diplomats, and politicians working on Middle East issues in an ongoing phishing campaign. |
|
|
|
|
|
| Articles in the new criminal code violate the rights of women, religious minorities, and LGBT people, and undermine rights to freedom of speech and association. |
|
|
|
|
This Saturday, December 10, is Human Rights Day. To celebrate, we’ve compiled some highlights that focus on positive moments and hopeful trends over the last year. As you are here reading about our work, I thought you might enjoy some inspiration as well. If you’re like me, Human Rights Day is a good time to reflect on the rights movement and ask yourself: What motivates me to stand up for human rights? |
|
Geen opmerkingen:
Een reactie posten