Human Rights Under Attack in El Salvador

Human Rights Under Attack
in El Salvador

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Emergency powers used to roll back rights

The government of El Salvador has suspended constitutional guarantees and arrested more than 60,000 people in the past year. Sign the petition to call for the restoration of human rights protections.

Salvadoran authorities imposed a state of exception in March 2022, claiming it was necessary to deal with gang violence. Since then, officials continue to have special powers and have committed massive human rights violations, including a staggering number of unjust detentions.

Two cousins, aged 14 and 15, were arrested while playing outside their home in Ilopango. Their families reported that police officers accused the youths of "looking like criminals" and said they would spend 30 years in jail.

This is no isolated case. People are being detained for having tattoos or for living in marginalized neighborhoods where gangs operate. Detainees have no access to effective legal defense, face torture and ill-treatment, and are held in overcrowded, inhumane conditions. Deaths in custody are increasing every day. Meanwhile, families often do not know where their loved ones were taken or what proceedings they face.

The Salvadoran government recently inaugurated the largest mega-prison in the region, demonstrating that it plans to continue implementing a public security policy that seriously threatens human rights and will not solve the problem of gang violence.

Sign the petition and call on El Salvador’s President to stop violating human rights.

Dear President Bukele,

I am deeply concerned that your government’s response to gang violence has led to widespread human rights violations and the unjust detention of tens of thousands of people.

I call on you to:

• End the state of emergency and implement a security policy that protects the human rights of all.
• Ensure that security forces cease arbitrary detentions and guarantee the release of those who have been illegally detained.
• Guarantee the rights of all detainees to due process and personal integrity, without discrimination.
• Guarantee the right of the families of detainees to information about their whereabouts and well-being.

El Salvador: President Bukele engulfs the country in a human rights crisis after three years in government (June 2,2022)

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