Salvadoran Police. The number of people arrested in El Salvador in the context of the State of Exception security plan—implemented by the Nayib Bukele government to end gangs—amounts to almost 89,000.
The Minister of Public Security and Justice, Gustavo Villatoro, confirmed that police authorities have reported about 89,000 arrests of suspected gang members since the implementation of the state of exception.
On the Frente a Frente talk show, Villatoro explained that the arrested individuals were members of criminal organizations—360 MS-13 cliques and 32 Barrio 18 programs.
The Bukele administration launched the State of Exception in March 2022 in response to a surge in gang-related killings that claimed 87 lives within just three days.
Up to this day, the Salvadoran legislature has consecutively approved the extension of the emergency regime 42 times, each for 30 days.
SEE ALSO: El Salvador State of Exception; A Security Measure Implemented to Fight Gangs
Human Rights Violations
Local and national human rights organizations claim that the State of Exception needs to end, as it has violated many individuals’ human rights. Cristosal, a local human rights organization, has released reports regarding these abuses.
Amnesty International for the Americas, in its statement for the two years of the State of Exception in El Salvador, assured that it can’t be “a success” to replace gang violence with state violence.
Organizations like Human Rights Watch and Cristosal claim that innocent individuals, including minors and elderly people, have been detained without evidence.
The government defends the crackdown as necessary to combat gangs, but critics argue it has led to widespread abuses and erosion of legal protections.
State of Exception Success
The controversial State of Exception has the approval of most Salvadorans; it is also credited with reducing the country’s homicide rate and achieving many days with zero homicides.
While local and international human rights organizations frequently criticize the State of Exception and advocate for its termination, the Bukele administration has reiterated its commitment to sustain it until every gang member is removed from the streets.
