The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) has once again expressed its concern over the persistence of massive and arbitrary arrests of gang members in El Salvador, and has asked the Government of El Salvador to carry out citizen security actions that guarantee rights and freedoms.
At a time when seven months have passed since the declaration of the emergency regime in El Salvador, the IACHR has urged in a letter to the Executive to ensure the safety of people with respect for human rights and international treaties to which it is a party.
For this reason, the organization has expressed its concern about the extensions of the emergency regime approved in the National Assembly that allow the suspension of rights.
In this regard, the IACHR has recalled that the suspension of rights and guarantees constitutes «a provision for extraordinary circumstances and not a means to address common crime», so the State of El Salvador «must ensure that emergency regimes meet the requirements of Article 27 of the American Convention,» as detailed in a statement.
«That is, in case of war, public danger or other emergency that threatens the independence or security of a State, and to the extent and for the time strictly limited to the exigencies of the situation and provided that this is not incompatible with the other obligations imposed by international law and does not entail any discrimination on grounds of race, color, sex, language, religion or social origin,» it added.
In this context, the IACHR has heard repeated complaints about the arrests made in recent months, indicating that, in many cases, they are based on «anonymous calls» or perceptions of membership in criminal groups based on their appearance or place of residence.
In addition, many family members continue to face challenges in confirming the whereabouts of their detained loved ones. The Commission has also been informed of the disproportionate use of force in police operations, including against persons with disabilities and pregnant women.
Therefore, the IACHR has called on the State to substantiate and prove, in each case, the existence of «sufficient evidence» to reasonably assume the criminal conduct of the person and that the detention is strictly necessary. On October 14, the Parliament of El Salvador approved a new extension of the Emergency Regime until November 17, stating that «the validity of the extraordinary measures is necessary at this time to continue operational security activities.
In this regard, the State has justified to the IACHR that in El Salvador more than 116,000 deaths have been registered as a result of the criminal activity of the gangs and their systematic exercise of violence, highlighting the 87 homicides perpetrated between March 25 and 27, 2022.
Since the exception regime was approved, according to data from the Ministry of Justice and Security, 57,007 people have been detained, of which at least 47,983 are under preventive detention.
