In March 2022, Bukele announced a “state of exception,” waiving many constitutional rights to combat the gangs that have terrorised the Central American nation.
Since then, El Salvador has arrested 80,000 people – more than one per cent of the country’s population – throwing them into prison, often with little evidence of their ties to gangs and almost no access to due process.
The prisons have been likened to torture chambers, with horrifying conditions.
According to the NGO report, “of these deaths, 44 per cent died of violent death, serious torture, 29 per cent due to lack of medical attention.”
