At least 14 police officers and soldiers have reportedly been detained by authorities in El Salvador on suspicion of committing abuses during the state of emergency decreed in the country ten months ago.
This was detailed by the leader of the Police Workers Movement (MTP), Marvin Reyes, during an interview with the radio station Yusca, detailing that the information was revealed during a meeting held between security forces and the Human Rights Ombudsman’s Office (PDHH) of El Salvador.
In addition to the detention of up to 14 members of the Salvadoran security forces, it has been reported that in the coming months a UN mission and another from the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) will visit the Central American country to investigate allegations of arbitrary arrests and more than 90 deaths in state custody.
It is not the first time that international organizations and human rights organizations have shown their concern for the negative effect of the state of emergency on the arrests of gang members. The NGO Human Rights Watch denounced in April massive arbitrary detentions and torture, as well as deaths in custody or forced disappearances.
In early December 2022, the UN Committee Against Torture expressed its concern to the Salvadoran state over the state of emergency and urged it to «ensure that preventive detention is applied as a last resort and for the shortest possible period of time, as reported by ‘La Prensa Grafica’.
«The results of these investigations could lead to the arrest of police officers who have detained people who have nothing to do with gang structures,» said the representative of the Police Workers Movement.
However, he asserted that those responsible for the actions are the heads of the institutions, because the agents «only follow guidelines».
The government of El Salvador decreed a state of emergency on March 27 as a measure to combat gangs, which cause dozens of deaths every day.
During the period of the state of exception, the Salvadoran government is empowered to suspend certain freedoms and guarantees to facilitate the deployment of military and police in the streets and in the municipalities where these homicides occurred.
Specifically, this measure allows throughout the country the suspension of the right of assembly, the increase of the maximum period of detention from 72 hours to 15 days, the elimination of the right of defense and the elimination of the right not to be tapped in telecommunications, according to the newspaper.
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
