Dozens of minors in El Salvador have suffered arbitrary detentions, torture and beatings during the two years of the state of emergency implemented by authorities to combat gangs, a police officer said Tuesday report from the non-governmental organization Human Rights Watch (HRW).
According to a report by New York-based HRW, soldiers and police have detained 3,319 children and adolescents between March 2022 – when the state of emergency began – and April 2024.
“Many children who have been arrested and detained had no apparent connection to gang activity,” HRW said in its report, which was compiled from interviews with more than 90 people.
“These arrests appear to be based on the physical appearance and socioeconomic conditions of the minors, rather than on credible and solid evidence,” the organization added, stating that many of the minors detained during the state of emergency lived in low-income areas.
In addition, HRW documented the cases of 66 minors who were subjected to abuses, including arbitrary detention, torture and police harassment. Once detained, the minors suffered overcrowding and were deprived of adequate food, medical care and family contact.
“Authorities have taken little or no steps to protect children from violence by other detainees, including beatings and sexual assault,” HRW said.
The Salvadoran government did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
Since March 2022, El Salvador is under a state of emergencywhich suspends some constitutional guarantees and has managed to drastically reduce the number of homicides, making El Salvador one of the safest countries in America.
The controversial measure, which earned President Nayib Bukele high levels of popularity and enabled him to be re-elected in February, has led to the arrest of more than 80,500 people as of June 6.
But it has also been strongly criticised by human rights organisations, which say there has been an “alarming regression” of constitutional guarantees in the smallest country in Central America.
The HRW report also found that more than 1,000 children and adolescents have been sentenced to prison terms of up to 12 years for crimes broadly defined as belonging to “illegal groups,” in trials that violated due process and often on the basis of uncorroborated police testimony or forced to make false confessions.
Among the report’s recommendations, HRW called on Salvadoran authorities to “quickly release people who have been detained without credible evidence” and implement non-prison measures.
Last week, the Cristosal organization denounced that 265 people have died in state custodyincluding four babies.
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