Nearly 3,000 minors are imprisoned in The Savior under a regime of exception in force since 2022, he said on Tuesday Human Rights Watch (HRW), which denounced “ill-treatment,” “indiscriminate arrests” and cases of torture in the Central American country.
According to the criteria of
In a report titled “Your Child Does Not Exist Here,” the organization documented cases of human rights violations while in power The Savior extraordinary rules to combat gangs.
The document reports numerous police and army raids in vulnerable communities, where gang violence was constant, resulting in more than 80,000 arrests, including almost 3,000 minors.
The text also lists more than 1,000 children who have been convicted, with sentences ranging from two to 12 years in prison, in some cases “on charges defined too broadly, such as the crime of [integrar] illegal groups, and often on the basis of uncorroborated police testimony,” the text states.
“Children and adolescents from vulnerable communities in El Salvador have suffered serious human rights violations due to the indiscriminate arrests implemented by the government” of President Nayib Bukele, said HRW Americas director Juanita Goebertus.
“The government should implement an effective and human rights-respecting security policy that dismantles gangs, prevents the recruitment of children and provides them with protection and opportunities,” he added.
Bukele launched a “war” against gangs in March 2022 under the state of emergency, which allows arrests without a court order. It was decreed by Congress after an escalation of violence that claimed the lives of 87 people.
Details of HRW’s report on El Salvador
One case documented by HRW is that of a 16-year-old student who was detained in May 2022 in Sensuntepeque, 83 km northeast of the capital, San Salvador.
“A relative told Human Rights Watch that soldiers forced him to strip, burned his torso with a lighter, and ordered him to confess to which gang he belonged to,” the report said.
HRW said the young man was accused of belonging to illegal groups “on the basis of a single testimony from an anonymous ‘critical witness’, and sentenced to six years in prison.” He is still in prison.
“In many cases, authorities forced children to make false confessions, through a combination of abusive court agreements and sometimes ill-treatment or torture,” HRW said.
Last week, the Salvadoran NGO Cristosal reported that at least 176 children were orphaned due to the death of one of their parents in prison.while 261 adults “have died in state custody between 2022 and 2024.”
Bukele rejects ending the state of emergency and dismisses criticism from humanitarian groups, while his human rights commissioner, Andrés Guzmán, denies cases of torture.
His crusade saw homicides drop dramatically and Bukele became the most popular leader in Latin America, according to a regional poll. He was re-elected in February with 85% of the vote.
The recommendations made by the report
HRW recommended “establishing a mechanism” to review cases of detainees “without credible evidence and order their immediate release.”
In this regard, HRW proposed “giving priority” to the review of cases of juvenile prisoners, as well as people with disabilities or serious health problems and pregnant women.
Regarding minors “credibly identified as gang members, judges should take into account mitigating factors such as the circumstances of the child’s recruitment, family and social context, and relative lack of maturity,” he said.
According to HRW, sentences “must always promote the rehabilitation and reintegration of minors” as required by the Convention on the Rights of the Child and other legal instruments.
HRW called on the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights to “promptly” publish a report on “violations” of human rights in the country and to “request permission” from the Bukele government to visit prisons.
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