Crimes against humanity in El Salvador? An international query is needed to investigate atrocities | Side event at UN Human Rights Council Session
Supported by civil society, a group of independent international law and human rights experts (The International Group of Experts for the Investigation of Human Rights Violations in the Context of the State of Emergency in El Salvador – GIPES [for its initials in Spanish]) was convened to investigate whether systematic abuses being carried out under the State of Exception public security policy in El Salvador –including torture, sexual violence, enforced disappearances, and extrajudicial executions– are indeed crimes against humanity.
On March 11, 2026, at a side event to the United Nations Human Rights Council session, members of the Group and civil society presented the Group of Experts initiative, their research findings and legal analysis, and other key information about the ongoing State of Exception and its impact in El Salvador.
The invited speakers are Leonor Arteaga, Program Director at DPLF; Santiago Canton, ICJ Director and GIPES member; José Antonio Guevara, former WGAD President and Group member; and Noah Bullock, the Executive Director of Cristosal. Irene Aparicio of CCPR will moderate the panel discussion.
This side event was hosted by the Centre for Civil and Political Rights (CCPR), Cristosal, Due Process of Law Foundation (DPLF), InterJust, International Commission of Jurists (ICJ), International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), Redress, Rights & Security International.
View recording on DPLF’s Youtube Channel:
Speakers
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José Antonio GuevaraFormer member, WGAD.
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Leonor Arteaga RubioProgram Director at the Due Process of Law Foundation (DPLF)
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Noah BullockExecutive Director, Cristosal
