El Salvador backs mass trials for thousands held in crime crackdown
El Salvador backs mass trials for thousands held in crime crackdown Reuters
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El Salvador Approves Group Trials Amid Crime Crackdown
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SAN SALVADOR, July 26 (Reuters) – El Salvador’s Congress on Wednesday approved group trials for the tens of thousands of people arrested during President Nayib Bukele’s crackdown on criminal gangs, which has given the country one of the world’s highest incarceration rates.
The legislation will allow prosecutors to simultaneously try up to hundreds of people alleged to be part of the same criminal group or from the same area of the Central American country.
Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
- Goal 16: Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions
- Goal 10: Reduced Inequalities
El Salvador has been under a state of emergency for 16 months, sparking the arrest of over 71,900 alleged gang members. Some 6,000 people have been released, official data show.
Lawmakers from Bukele’s New Ideas party, which has a majority in Congress, said the measure seeks to boost order and efficiency. It passed by 67 votes in favor and six against.
Justice Minister Gustavo Villatoro says up to 900 defendants from the same group could be prosecuted at a time.
Impact on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
- Goal 16: Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions – The group trials aim to address criminal gang activities and improve the justice system in El Salvador, contributing to the achievement of SDG 16.
- Goal 10: Reduced Inequalities – The legislation aims to ensure equal treatment and due process for all individuals involved in criminal cases, promoting fairness and reducing inequalities (SDG 10).
The state of emergency has been popular among Salvadorans. Proponents point to a significant drop in homicides and crimes such as extortion and drug dealing.
But the policy has drawn criticism from Salvadoran and international rights groups, who say it has led to human rights abuses such as torture, deaths in custody, and arbitrary detentions, particularly of young men in poorer neighborhoods.
The lawmakers who passed the measure said people found not to have links to gangs should be released.
Opposition politicians and rights groups say group trials risk depriving detainees of their right to due process and their individual presumption of innocence.
“‘We’re not arresting innocent people’ turned into ‘We’re arresting innocent people but not keeping them’, which turned into ‘We’re keeping them but the courts will set them free eventually’,” said Manuel Melendez, a PhD candidate at Harvard University and researcher on Salvadoran politics.
reuters.com
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