IRTF News

El Salvador: Widespread Abuses Under State of Emergency

After interviewing more than 1,100 victims (or their relatives) of the government’s State of Emergency, Cristosal and Human Rights Watch released in December 2022 an 89-page report, “‘We Can Arrest Anyone We Want’: Widespread Human Rights Violations Under El Salvador’s ‘State of Emergency’” , which documents mass arbitrary detention, torture and other forms of ill-treatment against detainees, enforced disappearances, deaths in custody, and abuse-ridden prosecutions. President Nayib Bukele’s swift dismantling of judicial independence since he took office in mid-2019 enabled the abuses. Human Rights Watch and Cristosal have not been able to identify any meaningful investigations into the hundreds of allegations of human rights violations committed during the State of Emergency.

Since the State of Emergency (aka State of Exception) was declared in El Salvador in March of 2022, the country has seen thousands of power abuse cases by the military and other security forces. Many arbitrary arrests appear to have been driven by a policy of “quotas” imposed by commanders in the National Civil Police, according to police officers. Between March and November 2022, security forces arrested more than 58,000 people:

-1,600 children

-hundreds of arrests without connections to gangs

-51,000 in pre-trail detention 

-a spike in the prison population from 39,000 in March 2022 to 95,000 in November 2022

-overcrowded cells with up to 125 prisoners in cells constructed for 30

-90 deaths in prison without investigation

-up to 500 sentenced in unjust mass judicial processes.

These circumstances are fueled by authorities requiring certain numbers of daily arrests, intimidating independent judges who are trying to investigate human rights violations, and stigmatizing independent journalists and civil society groups. This paired with the lack of access to lawyers makes for a system in which no one is safe from unjust arrests.

More and more voices are calling for alternative strategies to fight organized crime. Civil society groups and activists criticize the government’s failure to:

-invest in prevention and reintegration

-address illegal economies helping gangs

New strategies would include tackling root causes of gang membership, such as:  

-high levels of poverty

-social exclusion

-focus criminal persecution on high level gang leaders.

State violence and mass arrests are only two of the ways in which the Salvadoran government is crushing down on its population. Civil society groups are calling for international support for independent journalists and grassroots organizing groups that are under attack. Furthermore, the groups call on the international community to suspend existing loans involving the National Civil Police, armed forces, the Attorney General’s Office and the prison system.

Read the full report at https://www.hrw.org/report/2022/12/07/we-can-arrest-anyone-we-want/widespread-human-rights-violations-under-el

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After nine months, the Salvadoran Congress has once again voted for an extension of the ongoing State of Emergency (aka State of Exception) in the country. This marks the tenth extension and will be in effect from January 17 until February 15. The extension was passed with 67 votes in favor, an immense approval rate in a Congress with only 84 seats. President Bukele justifies this by claiming that 80% of the country is controlled by gangs, with Mara Salvatrucha (MS13) and Barrio 18 being the largest with an estimated membership of 70,000 members between both of them.

Earlier this month the Salvadoran government announced a drop of 56.8% in the country's murder rate. But the government's number of 496 registered homicides is questionable at best. Many deaths are never registered, and killings during clashes between gang members and security forces are not included. Civil rights groups have counted at least 600 killings in 2022. With the State of Emergency going into its 11th month, activists and rights groups keep articulating concerns about power abuses by security forces. 

The official detention numbers since March 2022 have risen to 61,000 detentions. In January, Human Rights Watch published a statement putting forward the fact that "hundreds of people with no connections to gangs have been detained." 

Expanding the State of Exception Smells of Danger and Is Associated with Possible Police Abuses.   Leticia Salomón, a sociologist and researcher, is of the opinion that suspending constitutional guarantees always smells of danger and is associated with the excesses that the police can commit when capturing alleged suspects of committing criminal actions and that result in human rights violations.

Mirna Flores, a violence and security researchers, issued a warning: “It must be taken into account that as the state of exception expands, it can be perpetuated, and strengthen an authoritarian culture, and we cannot continue emulating a system like the one in El Salvador, based on arrests and full jails,” he says. Flowers.

For Flores, it is necessary to counteract the “strong hand” discourse, and that the State implement comprehensive measures that give new opportunities to youth. "Criminal gangs must be forcefully attacked, but this is done institutionally, with a reliable and efficient police force, that is not corrupt and that earns the trust of the citizenry and with citizens that from the municipalities participate in the strategies of security.

The author of this opinion article, Fidelina Alfaro, a member of the New Jersey TPS Committee, has lived and worked in the United States for 21 years. In 1995 the mother of two migrated to the US in the hope of a safe and better life and to provide education for her children. In 2001, following a massive earthquake in El Salvador, Alfaro was granted Temporary Protection Status (TPS), which provides protection from deportation to countries wrecked by violence, war and natural disasters. Even though the U.S. government has just extended TPS for El Salvador, Alfaro, like thousands more, live in constant fear that their TPS will expire and attempts to end TPS. For this reason, Alfaro has written this article. 

In her 21 years of TPS, Alfaro has regularly worked two jobs to pay for a college education for her daughter. During the Covid pandemic, she worked as a caretaker, putting herself in danger regularly. 

Alfaro advocates for the right of TPS  holders to apply for citizenship and become full members of US society, with the right to vote, travel and the end of the constant fear of deportation. This goal could be accomplished by the American Dream and Promise Act, as well as through the Registry Act.

IRTF supports Alfaro's call for the right to citizenship of TPS holders and demands an end to taxation without representation and basic citizen rights!   

On January 11, the Witness Against Torture collective will hold its annual days of fasting and protest in Washington, DC, to Shut Down Guantánamo! IRTF staff and volunteers will take part.

Leading up to this, we will share stories of inmates, their treatment by the media and more.

Our first post tells the story of Khaled Qassim, who was imprisoned in 2002 without charges. Despite President Obama's promise to close Guantánamo and a 2022 clearance for release, Khaled is still held in the torture facility.

This post also includes a description of ways you can help shut down Guantánamo and support former inmates and detainees cleared for release who are still imprisoned there. 

In this monthly newsletter, please read about (1) Immigration Court in Cleveland, OH, (2)  The Biden Administration’s Plans to Overhaul Border Policies after the End of Title 42, (3) Title 42: Expelling Migrants in the Name of Health Measures. Update on Removal Flight Trends, (4) Temporary Protected Status (TPS) Renewed for Haitians, and (5) At The Border: Recent Incidents at and around the US-Mexico Border. TAKE ACTION ITEMS: After reading the articles, please take a few moments to advocate for migrant justice with our TAKE ACTION items: (1) Urge Congress to Reject Racist, Anti-Asylum Policies, and (2) Permanent Pathway to Citizenship for DACA and TPS Recipients.