In a joint communication addressed to the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD), DPLF, in collaboration with the Center for Civil and Political Rights (CCPR), the Center for Justice and International Law (CEJIL), Cristosal, the Foundation for Studies on the Application of Law (FESPAD), the Human Rights Institute of the UCA (Idhuca), the World Organization Against Torture (OMCT), and the Passionist Social Service (SSPAS), reported on the mass detentions carried out by police and military forces since March 2022, following the Salvadoran Congress’s approval of a state of emergency at the request of President Nayib Bukele.
According to the analyzed information, the majority of the over 82,000 detentions conducted under the state of emergency constitute arbitrary detentions under international law and the standards developed by the WGAD itself. In many cases, there is no legal basis for the detention; in others, detainees are held incommunicado, and in some instances, prison authorities have refused to comply with judicial release orders. These detentions are also deemed arbitrary due to the lack of due process guarantees, such as violations of the presumption of innocence, the automatic use of pretrial detention, and infringements on the right to legal defense and equality of arms, among others.
Related resources:
– Informe de Organizaciones de sociedad civil de El Salvador al Grupo de Trabajo de Naciones Unidas (WGEID) sobre Desapariciones Forzadas o Involuntarias.
– Desapariciones forzadas de corta duración: Documento presentado al Comité contra la Desaparición Forzada y al Grupo de Trabajo sobre Desapariciones Forzadas de la ONU
