HMR VIOLATIONS & Crime Rate

Human rights reports of 2022 and 2023 provide an overview of the impact of the state of exception declared by the government and its impact on human rights.

According to El Salvador's 2023 Human Rights Report, there have been a lot of arbitrary arrests following the declaration of the state of exception which resulted in a high number of arrests, overcrowded prisons, and allegations of human rights abuses. 

Inhuman treatment and overcrowding in prisons is becoming a serious issue. As stated “state of exception resulted in 52,000 arrests in the first 6 months…….. Prisons where at 119 percent of capacity…..Over 71,000 detainees were being held in a system designed for 30,000”(World Report 2023)

Deaths of detainees have also become a huge concern According to LA Prensa Grafica “73 detainees died in prison in the start of the state of exception” (Human Rights Watch 2023)

NGOs like Cristosal reported a lot of human rights abuses as mentioned “2,900 cases of human rights violations during the state of exception” (World report 2023)

“Some of the arrests were based solely on individuals having tattoos or a prior criminal record or the fact that they were living in an area controlled by a gang.”(Amnesty International)

Arrests of children have been reported and accepted due to a law implemented in March of 2022 that lowered the age of criminal responsibility to ages between 12 to 16 involved in gangs. As mentioned, “As late of August 2023 1,082 children have been sent to pre-trial during state of exception” (Human Rights Watch 2023)

Another Human rights organization Amnesty International has also accused El Salvador of committing human rights violations during the state of exception because of how many people have been arrested as mentioned “36,00 have been arrested in over 2 months and 2% of the country's adult population is in prisons or jail.” (World report 2022)