Human Rights Groups File Charges Against Salvadoran Officials for Crimes Against Humanity Amid Ongoing State of Emergency

SAN SALVADOR — 

The organizations Socorro Jurídico Humanitario and Justicia Social reported on Monday to the Public Prosecutor’s Office against members of the Salvadoran Congress and the Minister of Security Gustavo Villatoro for crimes against humanity that may have been committed during the state of emergency approved in March 2022 to combat gangs.

The director of Socorro Jurídico Humanitario, Ingrid Escobar, stated that those denounced include Ernesto Castro, president of the Legislative Assembly; the congress members; Suecy Callejas, Alexia Rivas, Elisa Rosales, Reynaldo Cardoza, Reinaldo Carballo, Rodrigo Ayala, José Serafín Orantes; former congress members Guillermo Gallegos and Numan Salgado; and Minister of Security Gustavo Villatoro.

The complaint also includes the General Director of Penal Centers, Osiris Luna, as well as several prosecutors, judges without a face, directors of penal centers, and prosecutors, who are not publicly identified in the complaint because the information “is reserved.” All are accused of the crimes of failure to perform duties, denial of assistance to detainees, and arbitrary acts.

The accusation falls on the deputies who “have signed the extensions of the state of emergency.”

AP sought a response from the communications office of the Presidential House, which said, “no comments.”

Attorney Ingrid Escobar, director of Socorro Jurídico Humanitario, explained that the complaint is based on recent statements by special rapporteurs from the United Nations, “which indicate that El Salvador is violating pacts, agreements, and international treaties of the universal system, and specifically the Rome Statute.”

Escobar pointed out that since the state of emergency came into effect, 27 extensions have been approved “illegally,” and “more than 26,000 Salvadorans, being innocent, have been sent to serve a sentence they do not deserve, but also to be tortured by beatings, strangulation, or denial of medical treatment, which has already cost the lives of 305 adults and four babies, children of detainees.”

Recently, Human Rights Watch presented a 114-page report documenting 66 cases of minors who were victims of abuses such as arbitrary detention, torture, mistreatment, and police harassment.

The state of emergency, in effect since March 27, 2022, suspended fundamental rights such as being informed of the reasons for detention or having access to a lawyer.

Under this regime, security forces can also intervene in telecommunications without a court order, and the detention period without a judicial hearing is extended from 72 hours to 15 days.

As part of the anti-gang strategy, Congress also approved reforms to the Penal Code to make gang membership a crime, which carries penalties of 20 to 40 years in prison. Leaders can receive sentences of up to 60 years.

The Penal Code reforms also impose minimum penalties of 10 years for those over 12 who, being gang members, are accused of illicit associations. If they are between 16 and 18 years old, the penalty is 20 years in prison.

According to the Human Rights Watch report, since Congress approved the state of emergency, security forces have detained more than 81,110 people, including 3,000 minors. More than 1,000 minors have been sentenced to terms ranging from two to 12 years in prison, “often on charges defined too broadly, such as the crime of illicit associations, and frequently based on uncorroborated police testimonies,” the report added.

In 2015, El Salvador was considered one of the most violent countries in the world, recording 6,656 homicides, a rate of 106 violent deaths per 100,000 inhabitants, while in 2023, the country closed with 214 homicides, including 38 deaths of suspected gang members in alleged confrontations with police or military, according to government data.

So far in 2024, the police have recorded 76 homicides, including the deaths of three suspected gang members also in alleged confrontations with police or armed forces.

The government of Nayib Bukele has defended its hardline policy despite concerns about alleged human rights violations. The Ministry of Security reported that El Salvador has accumulated 665 days without homicides. “Thank God, we have the most successful and verifiable security plan in the world,” said President Bukele on the social network X.