Over 84,000 Arrested During El Salvador’s State of Exception

Over 81,500 alleged gang members and collaborators have been arrested under the Salvadoran State of Exception security measure.

Rene Merino Monroy, El Salvador’s Minister of Defense, reported the number of arrests made under the security measure during a press conference on January 6, 2025.

Minister Monroy also reported the seizure of more than 10,438 vehicles, the confiscation of more than 21,616 cell phones, and the removal of more than 4,548 weapons from circulation.

“We will continue to support the National Police in the fight against crime with a firm commitment to bring peace to the Salvadorans. Saying that we are the safest country in the Western Hemisphere has not been easy, but thanks to the support of the population and the leadership of our President Nayib Bukele, we have achieved these results,” expressed Minister Monroy.

The State of Exception was launched 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 34 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 cannot be “a success” to replace gang violence with state violence.

The organization indicated that Nayib Bukele’s government implements the security measure extraordinarily and temporarily without any evaluation or counterweight in the country and with a timid response from the international community.

Two years after declaring a state of emergency, a measure that is considered extraordinary and temporary, and implementing a series of amendments to criminal law that undermine the presumption of innocence and the right to defense, among other guarantees of due process, the government of El Salvador continues to ignore its international human rights obligations by maintaining these measures as the mainstay of its security strategy. Amnesty International.

SEE ALSO: El Salvador Homicide Rate: The Lowest in Latin America

State of Exception Success

The controversial State of Exception has the approval of most Salvadorans; it is also credited for 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.