Detainees in El Salvador’s gang crackdown cite abuse during months in jail
1 year, 1 month ago

Detainees in El Salvador’s gang crackdown cite abuse during months in jail

Associated Press  

MEXICO CITY — The day he was arrested, Luis was in a government office trying to get a document attesting to his clean criminal history so he could apply for a call center job. Denying it repeatedly was useless, he recalled, because “at that time people didn’t have rights.” That was April 2022, the month after El Salvador President Nayib Bukele received special powers suspending fundamental rights like access to a lawyer or being informed of why you were arrested. Accused of illegal association without any publicly known evidence, Luis was arrested that day and in less than 24 hours taken to El Salvador’s largest prison, La Esperanza, also known as Mariona. “Meaning they’re violent deaths.” In mid-June, the Attorney General’s Office said it had shelved 142 inmate death cases that could not be blamed on guards. Pedro, who says he came out of prison “psychologically destroyed,” went 15 days without being able to sleep and didn’t leave home.

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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 …

More than 60 children detained, beaten, tortured in El Salvador, HRW says
5 months, 3 weeks ago

More than 60 children detained, beaten, tortured in El Salvador, HRW says

Hindustan Times  

By Nelson Renteria More than 60 children detained, beaten, tortured in El Salvador, HRW says SAN SALVADOR, - More than 60 children in El Salvador have been arbitrarily detained, tortured and beaten since the government declared a state of emergency over two years ago to combat gangs, a report by the Human Rights Watch said on Tuesday. Police and soldiers …

Children victimized in El Salvador’s anti-gang crackdown, rights group alleges
5 months, 3 weeks ago

Children victimized in El Salvador’s anti-gang crackdown, rights group alleges

LA Times  

Thousands of poverty-stricken children in El Salvador have suffered arbitrary detention, torture and other abuse as part of President Nayib Bukele’s “war on gangs,” Human Rights Watch said in a report released Tuesday. “Many have been convicted on overly broad charges and in unfair trials that deny due process,” according to the report, which Human Rights Watch says is based …

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

Jailed Guatemalan journalist to AP: ‘I can defend myself, because I am innocent’
7 months, 2 weeks ago

Jailed Guatemalan journalist to AP: ‘I can defend myself, because I am innocent’

Associated Press  

GUATEMALA CITY — José Rubén Zamora has spent nearly two years locked in a dark 16- by 13-foot cell in a Guatemalan prison, allowed only one hour a day in the sunlight. I have to face justice because I can defend myself, because I am innocent.” International press freedom organizations have labeled Zamora’s arrest and detention a political prosecution. Zamora …

At least 241 people have died in El Salvador’s prisons during the ‘war on gangs,’ rights group says
9 months, 1 week 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, 1 week 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 …

El Salvador’s president jailed 1% of the population. Their children are paying the price
10 months, 3 weeks ago

El Salvador’s president jailed 1% of the population. Their children are paying the price

LA Times  

A family member shows a phone photo of Juana Guadalupe Recinos Ventura, who was detained in June 2022 during El Salvador’s crackdown on drugs. “I’m scared, feeling like they could come and they could take away someone else in my family.” Forty thousand children have seen one parent or both detained in President Nayib Bukele’s nearly two-year war on El …

The state of exception in Honduras is endangering innocent lives
1 year, 1 month ago

The state of exception in Honduras is endangering innocent lives

Al Jazeera  

When Honduran President Xiomara Castro was elected in November 2021 after running on an anticorruption platform and promising to tackle the country’s disastrous human rights record and sky-high homicide and extortion rates, hopes ran high. In December 2022, less than a year after taking office as Honduras’s first woman president, Castro declared a state of exception covering parts of the …

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 …

Detainees in El Salvador's gang crackdown cite abuse during months in jail
1 year, 1 month ago

Detainees in El Salvador's gang crackdown cite abuse during months in jail

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. Denying it repeatedly was useless, he recalled, because “at …

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 …

Honduras copies El Salvador’s playbook in anti-gang crackdown
1 year, 6 months ago

Honduras copies El Salvador’s playbook in anti-gang crackdown

Associated Press  

TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras — A crackdown in Honduras on gangs in the nation’s prisons is eerily similar to one carried out last year in neighboring El Salvador by President Nayib Bukele, observers said Tuesday. “It’s the same phenomenon,” said retired police commissioner Henry Osorto, but added that the crackdowns should be scrutinized to see whether “standards and international treaties are being …

Honduras copies El Salvador's playbook in anti-gang crackdown
1 year, 6 months ago

Honduras copies El Salvador's playbook in anti-gang crackdown

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 Observers said Tuesday that a …

El Salvador ex-president sentenced to 14 years over gang talks
1 year, 7 months ago

El Salvador ex-president sentenced to 14 years over gang talks

Al Jazeera  

Mauricio Funes, who currently lives in Nicaragua, denies the charges and says 2012 truce was brokered by the church. A court in El Salvador has sentenced former President Mauricio Funes to 14 years in prison for negotiating with gangs during his administration. Over the past year, several thousand suspected gang members have been rounded up as part of current President …

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 marks its first year under anti-gang crackdown
1 year, 9 months ago

El Salvador marks its first year under anti-gang crackdown

Associated Press  

SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador — The Central American nation of El Salvador marked a full year Monday under anti-gang emergency measures that were originally supposed to last only a month. Recalling last March 27 when the last homicide wave occurred, Bukele wrote in his Twitter account “that was one of the most difficult days of my life.” Referring to police …

Photos: Inside El Salvador’s new ‘mega prison’ for gang members
1 year, 10 months ago

Photos: Inside El Salvador’s new ‘mega prison’ for gang members

Al Jazeera  

The first 2,000 inmates of a new prison built in El Salvador to accommodate more than 40,000 suspected gang members targeted in President Nayib Bukele’s “war” on crime have arrived at the facility. Bukele tweeted on Friday: “At dawn, in a single operation, we transferred the first 2,000 members to the Center for the Confinement of Terrorism,” which he said …

El Salvador moves 2,000 alleged gang members to new ‘mega-prison’
1 year, 10 months ago

El Salvador moves 2,000 alleged gang members to new ‘mega-prison’

Al Jazeera  

The Salvadoran government has been accused of widespread abuses as it waives civil liberties to combat gang activity. The Central American nation of El Salvador has transferred 2,000 people accused of gang membership to a recently opened “mega-prison”. In a Twitter post on Friday, President Nayib Bukele celebrated the arrival of the alleged gang members at the prison, which has …

El Salvador prisoner ‘rearrests’ fuel new concerns
1 year, 10 months ago

El Salvador prisoner ‘rearrests’ fuel new concerns

Al Jazeera  

Growing number of people detained in gang crackdown being ‘rearrested’, experts say, raising fears policy will not end. Usulutan, El Salvador – For the past five months, Marcela Alvarado has made an almost daily pilgrimage to different Salvadoran government offices demanding her son Jose Duval Mata Alvarado’s release. But now, the police workers union and human rights groups have said …

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 …

Peruvian court upholds 18-month pre-trial detention for Castillo
2 years ago

Peruvian court upholds 18-month pre-trial detention for Castillo

Al Jazeera  

Ex-president Pedro Castillo has denounced his arrest as ‘political revenge’, while deadly protests continue to rock Peru. Peru’s highest court has upheld a decision to hold former President Pedro Castillo in pre-trial detention for 18 months as he is investigated on charges of rebellion. Latin America has a long history of removing democratically-elected leftist politicians from power, often through violent …

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 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, …

Peru ex-President Castillo detained as ‘rebellion’ probe proceeds
2 years, 1 month ago

Peru ex-President Castillo detained as ‘rebellion’ probe proceeds

Al Jazeera  

Judge orders seven days’ detention for Pedro Castillo as Peru grapples with fallout of his abrupt removal from office. A judge in Peru has ordered Pedro Castillo to be detained for seven days as authorities investigate charges of “rebellion and conspiracy” against the former president, who was removed from office and arrested this week. Peru’s opposition-held legislature voted to remove …

Prison deaths mount in El Salvador’s gang crackdown
2 years, 2 months ago

Prison deaths mount in El Salvador’s gang crackdown

Associated Press  

SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador — Jesús Joya says his brother was “special” -- at 45, he was childlike, eager to please. A month after Henry’s arrest, guards at the Mariona prison north of San Salvador told Jesús that Henry was no longer there. The only thing the people ask and I said is, why don’t they investigate before taking someone?” …

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 committing ‘massive’ rights violations, Amnesty says
2 years, 7 months ago

El Salvador committing ‘massive’ rights violations, Amnesty says

Al Jazeera  

At least 18 people have died in state custody during sweeping gang crackdown, Amnesty International says in new report. Authorities in El Salvador have committed “massive human rights violations” in a sweeping gang crackdown, Amnesty International has said, including arbitrary arrests, violations of due process, torture and ill-treatment. In a new investigation released on Thursday, the UK-based rights group said …

The El Salvador diaries: The psychology of mass incarceration
2 years, 7 months ago

The El Salvador diaries: The psychology of mass incarceration

Al Jazeera  

On May 17, Mauricio Arriaza Chicas, the head of El Salvador’s National Civil Police, took to Twitter to broadcast the news that “more than 31,000 terrorists” had thus far been “captured” since the inception of the national state of emergency at the end of March. Shortly after my arrival, I had the opportunity to speak with a Salvadoran psychologist in …

More than 30,500 arrested in El Salvador gang crackdown
2 years, 7 months ago

More than 30,500 arrested in El Salvador gang crackdown

Al Jazeera  

Police say 30,506 arrests carried out in less than two months since ‘state of exception’ invoked after deadly violence. More than 30,000 people have been arrested under a “state of exception” in El Salvador, police said, as President Nayib Bukele’s crackdown on armed gangs continues. El Salvador’s Congress approved a “state of exception” in late March after a weekend of …

As El Salvador’s arrest wave continues, families live in worry
2 years, 8 months ago

As El Salvador’s arrest wave continues, families live in worry

Al Jazeera  

Relatives of people arrested in government’s crackdown on gangs say they have little to no information about loved ones. “I’m worried that they aren’t giving him medical attention and that something could happen to him,” his relative, who asked not to be identified for fear of retaliation from authorities, told Al Jazeera. “This situation causes despair, anguish and everything that …

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 …

‘All Salvadorans at risk’: Inside El Salvador’s gang crackdown
2 years, 8 months ago

‘All Salvadorans at risk’: Inside El Salvador’s gang crackdown

Al Jazeera  

President Nayib Bukele says his gov’t is stamping out gang violence, but experts document pattern of arbitrary arrests. “Because everything the government is doing now means restricting rights, and expanding the power of the state over the life of Salvadorans.” On April 20, Bukele announced via Twitter that in just 25 days his government had arrested more than 14,000 “terrorists”, …

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 president threatens to cut all food for gang inmates
2 years, 9 months ago

El Salvador’s president threatens to cut all food for gang inmates

LA Times  

Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele said that if the gangs “unleash a wave of crimes, we are going to cut off food in the prisons.” El Salvador’s president threatened Tuesday to stop providing food for imprisoned members of street gangs after a wave of killings. Speaking at a graduation ceremony for new police officers and soldiers, President Nayib Bukele said that …

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 …

Report reveals illegal detention and torture in Colombia protests
3 years, 5 months ago

Report reveals illegal detention and torture in Colombia protests

Al Jazeera  

‘These events are extremely serious and must be investigated diligently, independently and impartially,’ Amnesty International says. Through an “exhaustive digital verification” of images and videos, Amnesty also confirmed that National Police officials permitted acts of violence and urban paramilitarism by armed civilians against demonstrators and human rights activists. “n a country battered by decades of paramilitary violence, these events are …

Push within El Salvador to advance priest massacre case
4 years, 3 months ago

Push within El Salvador to advance priest massacre case

Associated Press  

SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador — For years, attempts within El Salvador to investigate and prosecute the masterminds of a massacre of six Jesuit priests during that country’s civil war have been delayed and deflected by legal maneuvers. The sentencing of former Salvadoran colonel Inocente Orlando Montano to 133 years in prison by a Spanish court earlier this month in relation …

El Salvador president denies negotiating with gang
4 years, 4 months ago

El Salvador president denies negotiating with gang

Associated Press  

SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador — El Salvador President Nayib Bukele denied a report Friday that his government has been negotiating with one of the country’s most powerful gangs to lower the murder rate and win their support in mid-term elections in exchange for prison privileges. Attorney General Raúl Melara, whose office is independent of the presidency, said in an interview …

Over 100 Salvadorans Killed After Deportation From U.S.: Human Rights Watch
4 years, 11 months ago

Over 100 Salvadorans Killed After Deportation From U.S.: Human Rights Watch

Huff Post  

LOADING ERROR LOADING At least 138 Salvadorans have been killed after being deported from the U.S. in the last seven years, and more than 70 others have been violently assaulted, according to an alarming new report from Human Rights Watch. “Salvadorans are facing murder, rape, and other violence after deportation in shockingly high numbers, while the U.S. government narrows Salvadorans’ …

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