El Salvador rights groups cite 338 violations amid gang crackdown
Al JazeeraAmid 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 government, led by President Nayib Bukele, began the crackdown, according to the groups, but as of May 1, only 10,885 of them have been ordered held pending trial. An earlier report by Human Rights Watch and the Cristosal Foundation documented two cases where people died in police custody and found press reports of three other cases. Beyond the state of emergency, other measures have heightened concerns over human rights abuses in El Salvador, particular the legislature’s authorisation of prison sentences of 10 to 15 years for news media that reproduces or disseminates messages or certain images related to gangs.