TO two years after implementing the exception regime In El Salvador, 2.5% of its adult population is detained, according to a civil society report.
“El Salvador has the highest incarceration rate in the world,” with 109,519 people imprisoned in a country of 6.3 million inhabitants, gives a preview of the reportpublished last week.
The number almost triples the prison population that existed before the emergency regime, which was approximately 38,000 people.
This is the second annual report on human rights violations within the framework of the emergency regime in El Salvador, and was prepared by several organizations, including Cristosal, an NGO that monitors human rights in the Central American country.
The preliminary report, the full version of which will be published this week, also indicates that 244 people died while in State custody under the emergency regime.
Infographic | Two years of emergency regime in El Salvador
This March 27 marks two years since El Salvador imposed an emergency regime that allowed it to capture any gang member or alleged gang collaborator without a court order. We tell you, in figures, how El Salvador is going since adopting this security model.
So far there are no official figures on deaths. The government has reserved information about its prison population.
The press department of the government of El Salvador did not respond to a request for comment from the Voice of America for this report.
Also read: Real estate prices rise in El Salvador after improving security
Contrary to the popularity that the emergency regime unleashed in El Salvador, human rights organizations continue to point out that El Salvador is not in an ongoing extraordinary situation that warrants an exceptional and non-permanent measure, and they ask the government to expedite the pending judicial processes of the detainees, as well as taking into account the use of alternative measures to detention to eliminate the emergency regime, which began in March 2022 after the murder of 87 people in one weekend by the gangs .
What emerged as a measure to “reestablish order” after the violent day is now the main tool of the Salvadoran government in its fight to dismantle the gangs.
Nayib Bukele's government continues to defend the heavy-handed policy in the application of the law, rejecting criticism from organizations inside and outside the country, and relying on the high level of acceptance of his management.
“When is the emergency regime going to end? When we have brought the last of these terrorists to justice,” Security Minister Gustavo Villatoro told local media.
The government has also maintained its position on social networks, where they defend and argue the measure.
Despite accusations from civil society that the government violates the most basic rights of the people, the regime has been extended 24 consecutive times and is currently still in force with the endorsement of a Congress with a pro-government majority.
The organizations register 6,305 complaints of human rights violations, which translate into 15,289 events or violations of human rights received between March 27, 2022 and March 15, 2024.
Among the most frequently reported events are arbitrary or illegal detentions, violations of due process, home invasions, cruel or degrading treatment, and harassment.
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