![](\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/media-library\/protesters-demand-the-release-of-relatives-arrested-during-el-salvador-s-state-of-emergency-who-they-say-are-innocent-in-san-sal.jpg?id=33403421&width=1200&height=800&coordinates=0%2C0%2C0%2C1\"\/)
\n\tJust over a year into a \"state of exception\" in El Salvador, Amnesty International on Monday accused all three branches of government of enabling \"the systematic, massive, and sustained violation of the human rights of the Salvadoran population\" in a supposed effort to crack down on gang violence.\n<\/p>
\n\tSince the Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele requested and the Legislative Assembly approved the state of emergency that suspended certain civil liberties in March 2022, lawmakers have repeatedly extended<\/a> it, most recently last month. The policy has \"allowed the arbitrary detention and imprisonment of more than 66,000 people<\/a>,\" according to the global human rights group.\n<\/p> \n\t\"The international community is alert to the grave human rights consequences of the state of emergency in El Salvador,\" said<\/a> Erika Guevara-Rosas, Amnesty's Americas director. \"The compliance of the institutions responsible for ensuring and administering justice in the country has led to the criminal justice system being weaponized to punish people, the majority of whom are from historically marginalized areas, when there is no evidence that they have committed a crime.\"\n<\/p> \n\tSpecifically, according to the organization:\n<\/p> \n\t\"The deaths of 132 people in state custody, arbitrary detention, mass criminal prosecutions, and the indiscriminate imprisonment of tens of thousands of people are incompatible with an effective, fair, and lasting public security strategy,\" said Guevara-Rosas. \"The systematic violation of human rights and the dismantling of the rule of law are not the answer to the problems facing the country. On the contrary, they set very dangerous precedents.\"\n<\/p> \n\tWhile the confirmed death toll as of last month is 132, Amnesty noted that \"Salvadoran human rights organizations believe that there is underreporting<\/a> because of reported cases of exhumations of victims from mass graves after families were finally able to learn of the deaths of individuals who had died months earlier.\"\n<\/p> \n\tIn one case highlighted by the group, a 45-year-old man with mental disabilities was apprehended at his home in April 2022. His family spent months trying to locate him. In September, someone who claimed to have shared a cell with the man called his family and advised them to go to the Forensic Medicine Institute, because he believed the man died after being beaten by guards.\n<\/p> \n\t\"He told us: 'Your relative vomited blood through his mouth and nose. I think he died, because they took him to the hospital and they never brought him back,'\" the family said. The Forensic Medicine Institute informed them that he died after 36 days in custody and was buried in a mass grave. The family had his remains exhumed in October but is unaware of any investigation into his death.\n<\/p> That's part of a trend, according to Amnesty. Guevara-Rosas said that \"in none of the 50 cases we have documented has it been possible to verify that there were investigation processes regarding the conduct of public officials. The fact that there are widespread human rights violations and virtually no ongoing criminal proceedings evidences the control exercised from the highest level so that all state powers obey this policy of indiscriminate imprisonment.\"<\/p>\n\tOn the one hand, the executive, through the police, the armed forces, and the Ministry of Security, has designed and implemented a security strategy based on the excessive use of force, indiscriminate arbitrary detention, and the practice of cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment including torture.
\n