El Salvador extends emergency powers in year-long gang crackdown
Al JazeeraMeasures 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 Salvador, human rights groups and United Nations experts have raised serious concerns around violations of due process, arbitrary arrests and mistreatment of detainees. Last month, rights groups and the Salvadoran police union told Al Jazeera that a rising number of Salvadorans detained under the state of exception have been “re-arrested” upon release after either being granted bail or having their cases dropped. Bukele has said around 80 percent of El Salvador is under the control of criminal gangs, with the state of emergency introduced last year after a wave of murders attributed to the violent groups.