El Salvador extended for the ninth time Wednesday the emergency regime to maintain the fight against gangs, despite criticism from opposition politicians and human rights organizations that demand the end of the measure because, they say, it has led to arrests arbitrary actions and abuses by the authorities.
The Legislative Assembly approved the extension of the provision for 30 more days as requested by the government, whose president Nayib Bukele enjoys high levels of popularity, according to surveys, due to his energetic fight against crime.
“We have regained control of the State, now we have authority and we are a strong country. We are transforming the reality of Salvadoran families,” said the Minister of Security, Gustavo Villatoro, when presenting the petition to the legislature and justifying the new extension.
Villatoro took the opportunity to respond to human rights organizations that have criticized the Salvadoran government for applying the emergency regime. “To the enemies of the people, who ask that this measure be stopped, I want to tell them that the population does not accept their proposals,” he added.
“We are not going to administer the country as the opposition wants, because we will not return to the past. We are going to treat the criminal as such and the full weight of the law will fall on him,” warned the president of Congress, Ernesto Castro.
According to a recent survey by LPG Data from the morning newspaper La Prensa Gráfica of El Salvador, 87.8% of Salvadorans approve of the performance of President Nayib Bukele, and 89.5% endorse the fight against gangs. According to another investigation by the NGO Fundaungo, 89.8% of Salvadorans approve of the exception regime, which constitutes an increase in the level of approval since in June it was 83.7%.
The authorities reported that in the almost nine months of the emergency regime they have captured more than 60,000 people out of a registry of 76,600 gang members.
The attorney for the Defense of Human Rights, Raquel Caballero, confirmed that 2,100 people have been released for not having ties to gangs and announced that in January she will begin a verification plan on the situation in prisons, with the support of the UN and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights.
On March 27, when 62 homicides were registered in one day, the Legislative Assembly with a broad pro-government majority approved the implementation of a state of emergency for the first time and for 30 days at the request of President Bukele.
According to official figures from January 1 to December 13, 602 homicides have been registered, a figure lower than the 1,061 recorded in the same period of 2021.
At the current rate, El Salvador would close 2022 with 633 homicides, for a rate of 10 homicides per 100,000 inhabitants. So far in December, four homicides and ten days without deaths due to homicidal violence have been confirmed.
The so-called maras or gangs, which have a presence in populous neighborhoods and communities in the country, are involved in drug trafficking and organized crime. They also extort merchants and transport companies, and kill those who refuse to pay, according to authorities.
The new extension was approved with the votes of 67 of the 84 deputies of the unicameral National Assembly. Nine opposition deputies abstained, six voted against, and two did not attend the session.
The exception regime was extended the previous time on November 15 and the authorities have warned that they will continue to apply it until the last of the gang members are removed from the streets.
The state of exception that limits freedom of association and suspends the right of a person to be duly informed of their rights and reasons for arrest, as well as the assistance of a lawyer.
In addition, it extends the term of preventive detention from 72 hours to 15 days and allows the authorities to intervene the correspondence and cell phones of those they consider suspicious.
In March, the Salvadoran Congress also approved some reforms to the Penal Code to make it a crime to be part of a gang, which can be punished with a sentence of 20 to 40 years in prison. The ringleaders can receive sentences of 40 to 45 years.
In crimes related to organized crime, which includes gangs, 20 years in prison are applied to adolescents over 16 years of age and up to 10 years to those over 12.
The organizations Human Rights Watch and Cristosal reported that they have documented more than 1,000 serious cases of human rights violations committed by soldiers and police officers during the emergency regime. They claimed to have documented at least 90 people’s deaths while in the custody of state authorities.
They hold them responsible for the violation of the right to defense and due process, forced disappearances, torture, and mass arrests of people who claim not to be linked to the gangs.
