El Salvador constitutional crisis ushers in ‘period of darkness’
3 years, 8 months ago

El Salvador constitutional crisis ushers in ‘period of darkness’

Al Jazeera  

Dismissal of top judges and attorney general could do irreparable harm to democracy, rights groups and lawyers warn. Salvadoran lawyers and human rights groups fear newly sworn-in lawmakers have dealt an irreparable blow to the country’s young and fragile democracy after the legislators removed officials from key offices over the weekend. The removal of the country’s attorney general and Constitutional Court judges eliminates two of the remaining checks on the power of the administration of President Nayib Bukele, who has been consolidating control of democratic institutions since he took office in June 2019. US Vice President Kamala Harris, who is leading the Biden administration’s efforts to work with Mexico and Central American countries to stem migration, said the administration has “deep concerns” about the events. “There’s a pretty clear message coming from the United States and I think that’s important,” said Geoff Thale, president of the Washington Office of Latin America, a nonprofit that promotes human rights in the region.

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History of this topic

Human rights body urges El Salvador to end state of emergency
4 months ago

Human rights body urges El Salvador to end state of emergency

Associated Press  

SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador — The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights urged El Salvador Wednesday to end the more than two-year state of emergency, which has suspended fundamental civil rights while the government pursued the country’s powerful street gangs. The regional human rights body noted that plunging rates of violence in El Salvador made clear that the state of emergency …

El Salvador President Nayib Bukele says security sustainable without a state of emergency
4 months, 1 week ago

El Salvador President Nayib Bukele says security sustainable without a state of emergency

Associated Press  

SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador — Nearly 2½ years into a state of emergency that has suspended key civil liberties in El Salvador, President Nayib Bukele says the security advances achieved are sustainable without what was supposed to be a temporary measure. Each month, El Salvador’s congress, which is comfortably controlled by Bukele’s New Ideas party and its allies, approves another …

At least 261 people have died in El Salvador’s prisons under anti-gang crackdown, rights group says
5 months, 4 weeks ago

At least 261 people have died in El Salvador’s prisons under anti-gang crackdown, rights group says

Associated Press  

SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador — The human rights organization Cristosal said Wednesday that at least 261 people have died in prisons in El Salvador during President Nayib Bukele’s 2 1/2-year-old crackdown on street gangs. “People have died in El Salvador’s prisons and jails because of torture, a lack of food, unhealthy conditions, an inhuman lack of attention and cruel, inhuman …

At least 241 people have died in El Salvador’s prisons during the ‘war on gangs,’ rights group says
9 months ago

At least 241 people have died in El Salvador’s prisons during the ‘war on gangs,’ rights group says

New Indian Express  

SAN SALVADOR: At least 241 people have died in El Salvador prisons since the start of President Nayib Bukele’s “war on gangs” two years ago, according to the organization Humanitarian Legal Relief. In March 2022, Bukele announced a “state of exception,” waiving many constitutional rights to combat the gangs that have terrorized the Central American nation. Since then, El Salvador …

At least 241 people have died in El Salvador’s prisons during the ‘war on gangs,’ rights group says
9 months ago

At least 241 people have died in El Salvador’s prisons during the ‘war on gangs,’ rights group says

Associated Press  

SAN SALVADOR — At least 241 people have died in El Salvador prisons since the start of President Nayib Bukele’s “war on gangs” two years ago, according to the organization Humanitarian Legal Relief. According to the NGO report, “of these deaths, 44% died of violent death, serious torture, 29% due to lack of medical attention.” While the government is accused …

‘Coolest dictator’ to ‘philosopher king,’ Nayib Bukele’s path to reelection in El Salvador
11 months ago

‘Coolest dictator’ to ‘philosopher king,’ Nayib Bukele’s path to reelection in El Salvador

Associated Press  

MEXICO CITY — El Salvador’s Nayib Bukele has called himself the “world’s coolest dictator” or as his X profile read on election day, the “Philosopher King.” Now he’ll likely have five more years to provoke, surprise and raise concerns, after appearing to win a landslide reelection as the Central American country’s president. Bukele vowed to ignore the ruling and tweeted: …

El Salvador is seeing worst rights abuses since 1980-1992 civil war, Amnesty reports
1 year, 1 month ago

El Salvador is seeing worst rights abuses since 1980-1992 civil war, Amnesty reports

Associated Press  

SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador — El Salvador is experiencing one of the worst human rights crises since the country’s 1980-1992 civil war, because of President Nayib Bukele ’s harsh anti-gang crackdown, Amnesty International said in a report released Tuesday. The rights group claimed that the almost 74,000 people jailed in the crackdown were subjected to “systematic use of torture and …

El Salvador's leader, criticized internationally for gang crackdown, tells UN it was the right thing
1 year, 3 months ago

El Salvador's leader, criticized internationally for gang crackdown, tells UN it was the right thing

The Independent  

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy El Salvador President Nayib Bukele …

Could El Salvador’s gang crackdown spread across Latin America?
1 year, 5 months ago

Could El Salvador’s gang crackdown spread across Latin America?

Al Jazeera  

A harsh crackdown on gangs has brought Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele popularity, but experts say the cost is steep. “When massive rights violations become commonplace, it’s very rare for this to result in lasting peace,” said Noah Bullock, executive director of the Salvadoran rights group Cristosal, which has monitored rights violations under the state of exception. “The magnitude of the …

El Salvador’s Congress votes to allow mass trials in gang crackdown
1 year, 5 months ago

El Salvador’s Congress votes to allow mass trials in gang crackdown

Al Jazeera  

El Salvador’s justice minister says up to 900 alleged gang members could be prosecuted at once under the new law. El Salvador’s Congress has approved group trials for the tens of thousands of people arrested during President Nayib Bukele’s crackdown on criminal gangs, which has given the country one of the world’s highest incarceration rates. Wednesday’s legislation will allow prosecutors …

OAS panel urges El Salvador to restore suspended rights
1 year, 8 months ago

OAS panel urges El Salvador to restore suspended rights

The Independent  

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy The Inter American Commission on …

Human rights body urges El Salvador's government to lift year-long suspension of constitutional rights
1 year, 9 months ago

Human rights body urges El Salvador's government to lift year-long suspension of constitutional rights

Firstpost  

The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, a branch of the Washington-based Organization of American States, issued a statement urging President Nayib Bukele and his congressional supporters to restore rights suspended under the so-called state of exception San Salvador: On Thursday, a regional human rights group urged El Salvador’s government to lift a year-long suspension of constitutional rights imposed as part …

El Salvador committing ‘systematic’ abuses in gang purge: Amnesty
1 year, 9 months ago

El Salvador committing ‘systematic’ abuses in gang purge: Amnesty

Al Jazeera  

Government has committed abuses such as torture, enforced disappearances in year-long gang crackdown, rights group says. Authorities in El Salvador have committed “systematic” human rights abuses since launching a nationwide state of emergency last year to tackle gang violence, including torture and enforced disappearances, Amnesty International said. The rights group said on Monday that the Salvadoran government’s “state of exception” …

El Salvador extends emergency powers in year-long gang crackdown
1 year, 9 months ago

El Salvador extends emergency powers in year-long gang crackdown

Al Jazeera  

Measures enjoy widespread support, but rights groups say they have led to arbitrary arrests and prison overcrowding. The so-called state of exception, renewed for a 12th time late on Wednesday by the Salvadoran Congress, came into effect last year and has led to around 66,000 arrests in the Central American nation. While the emergency measures enjoy widespread support in El …

El Salvador extends special powers in fight against gangs
1 year, 10 months ago

El Salvador extends special powers in fight against gangs

The Independent  

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy El Salvador’s congress has approved …

El Salvador extends special powers in fight against gangs
1 year, 10 months ago

El Salvador extends special powers in fight against gangs

Associated Press  

SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador — El Salvador’s congress has approved President Nayib Bukele’s request to extend the period of special powers for another month, meaning the country will go at least a full year with some fundamental rights suspended in fight against gangs. After a surge in gang violence in March 2022, in which 62 people were killed in a …

Rights group: leaked El Salvador data confirm abuses
1 year, 11 months ago

Rights group: leaked El Salvador data confirm abuses

Associated Press  

SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador — Human Rights Watch says it has obtained a database leaked from El Salvador’s government that corroborates massive due process violations, severe prison overcrowding and deaths in custody under the emergency powers put in place last March to confront a surge in gang violence. El Salvador’s Legislative Assembly approved the suspension of some fundamental rights following …

Rights group: leaked El Salvador data confirm abuses
1 year, 11 months ago

Rights group: leaked El Salvador data confirm abuses

The Independent  

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Human Rights Watch says it …

Leaked El Salvador data confirm abuses, Human Rights Watch says
1 year, 11 months ago

Leaked El Salvador data confirm abuses, Human Rights Watch says

LA Times  

Salvadorans arrested under a state of emergency are delivered by cargo truck to a detention center in Soyapango, El Salvador, on Oct. 7. Human Rights Watch says it has obtained a database leaked from El Salvador’s government that corroborates violations of due process, severe prison overcrowding and deaths in custody under the emergency powers put in place last March to …

In El Salvador, a tough anti-gang crackdown proves popular
2 years ago

In El Salvador, a tough anti-gang crackdown proves popular

Associated Press  

SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador — Nine months into a state of emergency declared by President Nayib Bukele to fight street gangs, El Salvador has seen more than 1,000 documented human rights abuses and about 90 deaths of prisoners in custody. For decades, El Salvador’s main street gangs, Barrio 18 and the MS-13, have extorted money from nearly everyone and taken …

El Salvador congress extends gang crackdown yet again
2 years ago

El Salvador congress extends gang crackdown yet again

Associated Press  

SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador — The congress of El Salvador has voted to extend President Nayib Bukele’s emergency powers to crack down on gangs for yet another month. Activists say it has led to human rights abuses, and Salvadoran officials said they will review prison conditions with human rights groups starting in January. The country’s human rights official, Raquel Caballero, …

El Salvador crackdown could prompt gangs to ‘adapt and reshuffle’
2 years ago

El Salvador crackdown could prompt gangs to ‘adapt and reshuffle’

Al Jazeera  

San Salvador, El Salvador – Residents of Soyapango, a densely populated municipality on the outskirts of San Salvador, woke up on December 3 surrounded by 10,000 police and military forces. El Salvador’s state of exception, in place since March, has suspended key civil liberties and led to the mass incarceration of nearly 60,000 Salvadorans. Bukele has brushed off such criticisms, …

El Salvador extends state of exception; 50,000 arrested
2 years, 4 months ago

El Salvador extends state of exception; 50,000 arrested

Associated Press  

SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador — With 50,000 people locked up since late March for alleged gang ties, El Salvador’s congress has approved another month-long extension of the state of exception that suspends some fundamental rights in the name of combatting the country’s powerful gangs. Outside the congress before the vote, 25-year-old Virginia Guadalupe Solano López said her husband, José Alfredo …

El Salvador extends state of exception as arrests hit 50,000
2 years, 4 months ago

El Salvador extends state of exception as arrests hit 50,000

Al Jazeera  

El Salvador’s Congress has approved a one-month extension to a state of exception used to round up alleged gang members, as the chief of police announced more than 50,000 people had been detained under the extraordinary measures. “We can inform the Salvadoran people that we have already reached 50,000 recorded detentions during the period of the emergency regime,” Mauricio Arriaza, …

El Salvador extends state of emergency amid gang crackdown
2 years, 7 months ago

El Salvador extends state of emergency amid gang crackdown

Al Jazeera  

Rights groups have accused the government of arbitrary arrests and violations of due process amid two month crackdown. The measure has since been accompanied by a raft of new anti-gang laws rights groups say infringe on the rights of the country’s 6.5 million citizens. On Wednesday, Bukele’s security minister, Gustavo Villatoro, said the government’s “war” on gangs will continue, even …

El Salvador rights groups cite 338 violations amid gang crackdown
2 years, 8 months ago

El Salvador rights groups cite 338 violations amid gang crackdown

Al Jazeera  

Amid a spike in homicides, President Nayib Bukele declared a state of emergency in March aimed at stemming gang violence. Five human rights groups in El Salvador have reported that there have been complaints of at least 338 violations of human rights during El Salvador’s crackdown on gang members. At least 24,000 presumed gang members have been arrested since the …

El Salvador NGOs challenge criminalisation of gang reporting
2 years, 8 months ago

El Salvador NGOs challenge criminalisation of gang reporting

Al Jazeera  

The groups have asked the judiciary to declare as unconstitutional law reforms that limit reporting on gangs. A group of nongovernmental organisations in El Salvador has asked the country’s judiciary to declare as unconstitutional recent law reform that journalists have warned could criminalise reporting on gangs. The reform, pushed by President Nayib Bukele, was passed by the country’s legislature on …

El Salvador criminalises showing gang-related messages in media
2 years, 9 months ago

El Salvador criminalises showing gang-related messages in media

Al Jazeera  

El Salvador’s Congress has approved a request by President Nayib Bukele to criminalise gang-related messages in the media, including news outlets, in a step to control the rising cases of homicides in the Latin American nation. The measure also targets those who “mark” their territories with acronyms, referring to a common practice gang members use to threaten those who report …

El Salvador: A state of emergency indeed
2 years, 9 months ago

El Salvador: A state of emergency indeed

Al Jazeera  

On Saturday, March 26, El Salvador registered 62 homicides, the most recorded on any single day since the end of the country’s bloody civil war in 1992. Anyway, the pandemic response was a whopping success in El Salvador, as noted by a Bloomberg opinion article in May: “Police were given broad powers to enter homes without warrants and arrest those …

UN rights office raises concerns about El Salvador gang crackdown
2 years, 9 months ago

UN rights office raises concerns about El Salvador gang crackdown

Al Jazeera  

UN says some detainees rounded up after wave of deadly violence subjected to ‘cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment’. The office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights has raised concerns about curbs to civil liberties and reports on the use of “excessive” force by police and military officers in El Salvador after a recent wave of gang violence. …

El Salvador’s Bukele warns gangs lead to ‘prison or death’
2 years, 9 months ago

El Salvador’s Bukele warns gangs lead to ‘prison or death’

Al Jazeera  

President’s comments come as country cracks down on gang membership after wave of murders last weekend. President Nayib Bukele has warned parents in El Salvador to keep their children away from gangs to avoid “prison or death”, as the country cracks down on gang membership after dozens of people were killed last weekend in a surge in violence. It is …

El Salvador declares state of emergency amid killings
2 years, 9 months ago

El Salvador declares state of emergency amid killings

Associated Press  

SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador — El Salvador’s congress granted President Nayib Bukele’s request to declare a state of emergency early Sunday amid a wave of gang-related killings over the weekend. “They are not to go out even to the patio” of prisons, Bukele wrote, adding ”a message to the gangs: because of your actions, now your homeboys will not see …

Crisis brewing as El Salvador’s Congress votes out top judges
3 years, 8 months ago

Crisis brewing as El Salvador’s Congress votes out top judges

Al Jazeera  

Rights advocates and political opposition decry the move as an attempt by President Nayib Bukele to cement his power. Human rights and judicial experts have slammed lawmakers aligned with El Salvador’s populist President Nayib Bukele for voting to dismiss top Supreme Court judges, a move they say aims to remove any opposition to Bukele’s firm grip on power. “Bukele is …

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