Since March 2022, the government of El Salvador has declared State of Exception to crack down on gangs and other criminal groups, arresting over 65,000 people in 12 months. A recently published report by Cristosal, a human rights organization based in San Salvador, indicates that since the suspension of constitutional guarantees began, there have been thousands of cases of arbitrary arrests and detentions of people living and working in areas where gangs operate, even for simply having tattoos. According to Cristosal, detained individuals have not had access to a defense attorney or other basic constitutional rights. The report includes information on the situation of women, children, adolescents, and the LGTBIQ+ population detained, as well as an analysis of the judicial reforms that limit the fundamental legal guarantees of the tens of thousands of people currently in prison. Cristosal has also documented 153 deaths of people held in custody under the state of exception as of April 2023.

Download the Executive Summary in English here.

Access the full report in Spanish here.