According to a new report by Amnesty International, Salvadoran authorities have committed many human rights violations. The violations include thousands of arbitrary detentions and violations of due process, torture and ill-treatment. In the report, it was found that nearly 2% of the country has been detained since March and 18 people have died while in state custody.
The country had been placed under a state of emergency on March 27 to tackle an increase in homicides due to gang violence and has extended this state of emergency twice. Over 36,000 people have been detained since the state of emergency began. The report states that the country is committing widespread human rights violations under the pretext of controlling or punishing gangs. At least 1,190 children have been detained and held in youth facilities with many of them charged as a member of an illegal group or terrorist organization. The state of emergency allows constitutional freedoms to be suspended including the right to state-sponsored legal defense in court, the freedom of association and provisional detention has been extended from 72 hours to 15 days. Torture and ill treatment has been documented inside the detention centers by Amnesty.
