EL SALVADOR 2018 HUMAN RIGHTS REPORT EXECUTIVE SUMMARY El Salvador is a constitutional multiparty republic. ... El Salvador is not on the Special 301 Watch List or the notorious market report. In 2018, the FGR registered 3,664 victims of disappearance, abductions, and unexplained missing person cases, including 1,218 women and at least 24 boys and 29 girls. Large numbers of people in El Salvador are internally displaced by criminal violence, extortion, and other threats. Human Rights Watch is not aware of any bias-related murders of known LGBT individuals that have resulted in conviction. Although El Salvador introduced hate crimes into its penal code in September 2015, Salvadoran authorities told Human Rights Watch that to date, only two cases have been prosecuted as hate crimes. Recommendations to El Salvador on the protection of two lives at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva by Hazteoir and CitizenGO. El Salvador serves as a powerful setting through which to understand the human rights challenges we are facing both at home and globally. ecoi.net is funded by the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund, the Austrian Ministry of the Interior and Caritas Austria. In September, he declared an end to the state of emergency, but it is unclear whether the policy was lifted in all prisons. President Bukele continued the military’s role in public security operations, despite a 1992 peace accord stipulation against it. President’s Call for Lethal Force Ignores Basic International Standards (Washington, DC) – El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele has ordered a mandatory lockdown in prisons holding gang members, imposing inhumane conditions on the inmates, Human Rights Watch said today. Refworld is the leading source of information necessary for taking quality decisions on refugee status. In January 2019 the Attorney General’s Office (FGR) added a corruption charge to its case against Funes. In July 2019, the Ombudsman for Human Rights in collaboration with an NGO and the European Union launched a project focused on combatting human trafficking in eight departments across El Salvador. Numerous security and elected officials have collaborated with gangs in criminal operations, media report, and all political parties have negotiated with them on daily operations, campaigns, and voting. ecoi.net is supported by ECRE & UNHCR. In March, a court commuted three women’s sentences as “disproportionate and immoral,” given that their families need them economically. The new report comes as the Trump administration makes it harder for Central Americans to seek refuge here. How the US helped create El Salvador’s bloody gang war Members of the MS-13 gang wait in their cell at Chalatenango prison in El Salvador. As of September, at least 16 women suspected of having abortions remained imprisoned on charges of manslaughter, homicide, or aggravated homicide. El Salvador’s president is directly elected for a single five-year term. Between 2014 and 2018, just 18.2 percent of asylum claims by Salvadorans were recognized by U.S. courts, according to Human Rights Watch. While in office, former Presidents Antonio Saca (2004-2009) and Mauricio Funes (2009-2014) used a “secret item” fund as one of several sources to embezzle hundreds of millions. Mr. Vivanco is a human rights advocate. They enforce their territories’ borders and extort and gather intelligence on residents and those transiting, particularly around public transport, schools, and markets. Human Rights Watch found that some 138 people deported to El Salvador were murdered by gang members, police, soldiers, death squads or ex-partners between 2013 and 2019. Feb 05, 2020 at 10:26 PM . A Human Rights Watch Report found that 138 repatriated Salvadorans have been killed since 2013. Gangs kill, disappear, rape, or displace those who resist. By Ben Fox, Associated Press. El Salvador has one of the world’s highest homicide rates, partially due to corruption and impunity. Impunity for such violations remains the norm. Investigations reached hearings in only 14 of 48 cases involving 116 extrajudicial killings committed from 2014 to 2018 that the Salvadoran Ombudsperson for the Defense of Human Rights (PDDH) examined. Security forces remain largely ineffective in protecting the population from such violence. On the morning of September 21, a judge arrived at military headquarters in San Salvador with a warrant to review the military’s records regarding the 1981 El Mozote massacre, one of the largest mass killings in modern Latin American history. Human Rights Watch has documented 138 deported Salvadorans murdered by gang members, police, soldiers, death squads and ex-partners between 2013 and 2019. Human Rights Watch found that some 138 people deported to El Salvador were murdered by gang members, police, soldiers, death squads or ex-partners between 2013 and 2019. Marvin Recinos / AFP. This number far exceeds the prior daily average for 2020 which had remained in the single digits. He ordered 24-hour block confinement and, for the first time since 2004, mixed gang populations across prisons. Salvadoran press reported at least 11 people murdered after deportation back to El Salvador in 2019. “One year ago, President Bukele made a commitment to lead the country in a new and better direction. Four journalists told Human Rights Watch that, since June, police have required presidential press office approval before discussing details of homicides. Journalists reporting on abuses of power or living in gang-controlled neighborhoods remain targets of death threats. At least 138 Salvadorans have been killed after being deported from the U.S. Over 70 have been beaten, sexually assaulted or tortured, a new Human Rights Watch report found. Abortion continued to be prohibited in all circumstances, and carried criminal penalties for women and health care providers. Refworld contains a vast collection of reports relating to situations in countries of origin, policy documents and positions, and documents relating to international and national legal frameworks. Source description last updated: 18 August 2020 In brief: Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organisation, headquartered in New York City, which seeks to protect human rights worldwide. They forcibly recruit children and subject women, girls, and lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) individuals to sexual abuse. El Salvador’s president is directly elected for a single five-year term. Human Rights Watch (HRW) on Wednesday criticized the treatment of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) individuals in El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras, as well as the US for the obstacles it places before asylum seekers. ecoi.net is run by the Austrian Red Cross (department ACCORD) in cooperation with Informationsverbund Asyl & Migration. In January, Camila Díaz Cordova, a transgender woman deported from the United States, was beaten to death. The Office of the Human Rights Ombudsman has proactively condemned attacks against the LGBTI+ community. Soldiers blocked the judge from entering, blatantly refusing to comply with the judicial order. There have been persistent concerns over human rights in El Salvador.Some of these date from the civil war of 1980–92. In February 2019, Nayib Bukele, who ran on the Grand Alliance for National Unity (GANA) ticket, won the presidential election in the first round with 53.1 percent of the vote, followed by Carlos Calleja of ARENA with 31.72 percent and Hugo Martínez of the FMLN, with 14.41 percent. Human Right Watch defends the rights of people in 90 countries worldwide, spotlighting abuses and bringing perpetrators to justice. Victims or witnesses of eight arbitrary arrests in two incidents in 2019 and late 2018 told Human Rights Watch of beatings at police barracks and threatened criminal charges for “illicit association,” a vaguely defined offense used to prosecute those suspected of gang membership. at least 16 women suspected of having abortions, https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2020/country-chapters/el-salvador, Austrian Centre for Country of Origin and Asylum Research and Documentation (ACCORD). In fiscal year 2019, the US disbursed over $62 million in bilateral aid to El Salvador. Salvadoran deportees, pictured in June 2018, listen to instructions from an immigration officer at La Chacra Immigration Center in San Salvador, El Salvador. Join our movement today. Congressional Research Service - El Salvador - 2019 (PDF), 2020 (PDF) Foreign Government Reports: Canada Immigration & Refugee Board Country Fact Sheet - Jan 2008: Non-Government Organization Reports: Amnesty International (PDF) Freedom House: In Sight Crime - Profile (PDF) Human Rights Watch (PDF) Congressional Research Service - El Salvador - 2019 (PDF), 2020 (PDF) Foreign Government Reports: Canada Immigration & Refugee Board Country Fact Sheet - Jan 2008: Non-Government Organization Reports: Amnesty International (PDF) Freedom House: In Sight Crime - Profile (PDF) Human Rights Watch (PDF) El Salvador has one of the world’s highest homicide rates, partially due to corruption and impunity. Gangs exercise territorial control, extort residents, and kill, disappear, rape, or displace those who resist them. The Human Rights Watch in the report being released Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2020, said that at least 138 people deported to El Salvador from the U.S. in recent years were subsequently killed. El Salvador. In August, the FGR tried Evelyn Hernandez a second time, in violation of due process, for aggravated homicide for a stillbirth in 2016 following her rape at age 17. The actual number of victims is thought to be much higher than reported, since sexual violence, torture or other harm is almost never reported by the press or to authorities, the group noted, particularly when it comes to violence against female deportees. Coverage on ecoi.net: Reports and press releases. An estimated 1.2 … Initial recommendation to the new government on human rights (24 June). In 70 percent of cases, witnesses said victims were unarmed. Review of 2019 - El Salvador [AMR 01/1353/2020… At least 138 deported to El Salvador were later killed, human rights group says. Violence and Discrimination Against LGBT People in El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras, and Obstacles to Asylum in the United States, United States Deportation Policies Expose Salvadorans to Death and Abuse, Mexico’s Failure to Protect Central American Refugee and Migrant Children, Abuses against Domestic Workers Around the World, Strengthen Protections, End Asylum Pact with US, Discrimination Follows them from Home to the US Border, Further Efforts Needed to Prevent, Prosecute Hate Crimes, No Answers on Covid-19 Test Results, Quarantine, Government Spending, President’s Call for Lethal Force Ignores Basic International Standards, OAS Should Address Disregard for Rights Rulings, Constitution, Arbitrary Detention, Hazardous Conditions in Detention, Quarantine. In 2018, Salvadorans had 101,000 pending asylum applications in the US, the most of any nationality. Providers and those who assist face prison sentences of six months to 12 years. Refworld contains a vast collection of reports relating to situations in countries of origin, policy documents and positions, and documents relating to international and national legal frameworks. Stay on top of El Salvador latest developments on the ground with Al Jazeera’s fact-based news, exclusive video footage, photos and updated maps. Feb. 14, 2020; Leer en español ... El Salvador’s Supreme Court suspended any acts resulting from the emergency session and ordered Mr. … El Salvador: Broad Powers Limit Accountability, El Salvador: Inhumane Prison Lockdown Treatment, El Salvador: President Defies Supreme Court, El Salvador: Police Abuses in Covid-19 Response. After one year in government, Nayib Bukele and his administration have put national and international human rights communities on high alert as they now view El Salvador with great concern, Amnesty International said today. Two resulted in convictions. Approximately 60,000 gang members operate in at least 247 of the country’s 262 municipalities, according to media sources. Outgoing President Sanchez Cerén (2014-2019) and President Nayib Bukele, who took office in June 2019, have also spent money from this fund, but no evidence linking these actions to corruption had emerged as of September. The El Salvador Documentation Project provided many of these records to the United Nations Truth Commission when it was created in 1992 to investigate El Salvador’s human rights catastrophe. Girls and women alleged to have had abortions are imprisoned for homicide. Police threatened journalists who resisted orders to turn over equipment or to erase photos. Free and fair presidential elections took place in 2014. [1] El Salvador: Memorandum to the President. El Salvador 2020 Crime & Safety Report. In August, the Lethal Force Monitor, a collaborative investigation by researchers in five Latin American countries, reported that Salvadoran police and soldiers killed 1,626 people from 2010 through 2017. Human Rights Watch Americas director José Miguel Vivanco tweeted Monday that with the authorization of lethal force against the gangs “Bukele is trying to give ... El Salvador April 27, 2020. In some cases, the courts accepted as evidence a questionable autopsy procedure known as the floating lung test to forensically support the claim that a fetus was delivered alive. After one year in government, Nayib Bukele and his administration have put national and international human rights communities on high alert as they now view El Salvador with great concern, Amnesty International said today. EL SALVADOR 2019 HUMAN RIGHTS REPORT EXECUTIVE SUMMARY El Salvador is a constitutional multiparty republic. Each time, soldiers prevented the judge from examining the records. President’s Call for Lethal Force Ignores Basic International Standards (Washington, DC) – El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele has ordered a mandatory lockdown in prisons holding gang members, imposing inhumane conditions on the inmates, Human Rights Watch said today. In July, the FGR charged three policemen with her kidnapping and aggravated homicide. [3] El Salvador: Victims of armed conflict must not wait any longer for truth, justice and reparation (News story, 15 May). On February 3, voters elected Nayib Bukele as president for a five-year term. State security forces have committed egregious abuses, including extrajudicial executions, sexual assaults, and enforced disappearances. Fake stories have circulated under the bylines of journalists who were not the authors, the Association of Journalists of El Salvador reported. In September, the FGR announced it would appeal the ruling. Soldiers blocked the judge from entering, blatantly refusing to comply with the judicial order. Presidente de El Salvador, Nayib Bukele, en la Asamblea Legislativa en San Salvador, el 9 de febrero de 2020. Several officials and inmates told Human Rights Watch of additional deaths in custody, which they attributed to extreme heat and tuberculosis. The election was generally free and fair, according to international observers. Report on the human rights situation covering 2019. Two inmates told Human Rights Watch that officials provided inadequate food, hygiene products, and medicine, and beat them and used pepper spray during searches. A nd as the crime numbers have gone down, the population of inmates in jails ha s gone up. Kennedy was the lead researcher on a Human Rights Watch report on hundreds of deportees who were killed or otherwise harmed in El Salvador, often by the people they had fled. WATCH: U.S. and El Salvador sign asylum deal. Salvadoran deportees, pictured in June 2018, listen to instructions from an immigration officer at La Chacra Immigration Center in San Salvador, El Salvador. Stay on top of El Salvador latest developments on the ground with Al Jazeera’s fact-based news, exclusive video footage, photos and updated maps. LGBT individuals face discrimination and violence with no effective state protection. These conditions have resulted in internal and cross-border displacement. Also in August, the PDDH reported that it had examined killings of 28 boys, 7 women, and 81 men and found few resulted from confrontations. In 37 percent, witnesses said they saw police move the body or place or hide evidence. Until then, each gang had been separated from others to avoid clashes. Get updates on human rights issues from around the globe. Human Rights Watch is a 501(C)(3) nonprofit registered in the US under EIN: 13-2875808, Associate Director, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Rights Program. From April 24 to 29, El Salvador tallied a surprising 76 killings, or 19 murders per day, according to El Diario de Hoy. The Human Rights Watch in the report being released Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2020, said that at least 138 people deported to El Salvador from the U.S. in recent years were subsequently killed. Although El Salvador introduced hate crimes into its penal code in September 2015, Salvadoran authorities told Human Rights Watch that to date, only two cases have been prosecuted as hate crimes. Authorities claimed that more than 90 percent of the victims were gang members and that nearly all were killed in “confrontations” or “shootouts.”. LGBTQ+ People Will Die. A truce lasted from 2012-14 between the national government, 11 municipal governments, and the two largest gangs. Senior U.S. Advocate at Refugees International, Acting Director, Environment and Human Rights, No Safe Haven for LGBT People in El Salvador, El Salvador’s Army, with the President’s Help, Blocks El Mozote Massacre Investigation. El Salvador has one of the highest rates of femicide in the world, and an abysmal human rights record protecting vulnerable categories of people, including indigenous peoples, those reporting crimes, those demonstrating political opposition to gangs or political parties, and women and girls who challenge entrenched machismo, or patriarchy. In June, President Bukele extended to all prisons a “state of emergency” that the previous government had instituted in seven prisons in August 2018. She said many of the report’s findings apply to Honduras, where she has done similar research. [2] El Salvador: After IACHR’s visit, the government must make major changes to guarantee human rights (News story, 5 December). El director para las Américas de Human Rights Watch ve un significativo esfuerzo por desmantelar las instituciones democráticas por parte del presidente de El Salvador … In March, in a sugarcane field, agents of the National Civil Police’s Tactical Operation Section allegedly beat and strangled a blindfolded, handcuffed youth whom they suspected of gang membership or hiding weapons or drugs, and set fire to the field where they left him unconscious. At least 138 Salvadorans have been killed after being deported from the U.S. Over 70 have been beaten, sexually assaulted or tortured, a new Human Rights Watch report found. In January 2019, a judge in Zacatecoluca ruled in favor of a transgender woman seeking to change her name and gender marker on her identity document. It tracked the cases through press accounts, court files and interviews … More than 70 others were beaten, sexually assaulted, extorted, tortured or went missing. Mexico: Obstacles to Children Seeking Asylum, Interview: LGBT People Flee Violence in El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador: Police Officers Convicted for Transgender Murder. In the last decade, 40 other women have been freed after having sentences commuted or being found non-guilty. Junta’s crackdown on protesters accelerates in Myanmar; Houthi rebels attack migrant center in Yemen; alarming number of Jordanians jailed for failing to repay their debt; surge in targeted killings in Afghanistan; killings of lawyers at record high in the Philippines; pardon of militia leader in Sudan sends wrong message; Islamist militants are beheading children in Mozambique; UN puts spotlight on killing of South African environmental defender; and Canada allows 4-year old to return from Syria – but not her mother. They have failed to investigate crimes and collaborated with gangs. Between 2014 and 2018, just 18.2 percent of asylum claims by Salvadorans were recognized by U.S. courts, according to Human Rights Watch. Published November 15, 2020 at 10:46 AM The government of El Salvador has a zero-tolerance policy when it comes to street gangs like MS – 13 . Dozens of girls and women, mostly from high-poverty areas, were prosecuted in the past two decades for what lawyers and activists say were obstetric emergencies. In September, President Bukele requested support from the UN and the Organization of American States to investigate and prosecute corruption. Women from poor backgrounds were disproportionately affected.In March, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) admitted a petition in the case of Manuela, a woman convicted of homicide after having a miscarriage, and who died from cancer in prison while serving her sentence.On 5 July, Evelyn Beatriz Hernández Cruz was sentenced to 30 years’ imprisonmen… Con esa frase inicia el apartado salvadoreño en el informe mundial que presentó ayer la Human Rights Watch (HRW) sobre el respeto a los derechos humanos durante el año 2020. On the morning of September 21, a judge arrived at military headquarters in San Salvador with a warrant to review the military’s records regarding the 1981 El Mozote massacre, one of the largest mass killings in modern Latin American history. More than 70 others were beaten, sexually assaulted, extorted, tortured or went missing. The Legal Medicine Institute registered 14 murders in police barracks and prisons in 2018. They have failed to investigate crimes and collaborated with gangs. In February 2019, Nayib Bukele, who ran on the Grand Alliance for National Unity (GANA) ticket, won the presidential election in the first round with 53.1 percent of the vote, followed by Carlos Calleja of ARENA with 31.72 percent and Hugo Martínez of the FMLN, with 14.41 percent. Media outlets widely reported that President Bukele’s choice for national police director has been investigated for threats and links to drug trafficking and groups that have engaged in assassinations. The trial continued against former military commanders accused in the 1981 El Mozote massacre, where soldiers committed mass rapes and killed 978 civilians, including 553 children. The El Salvador Documentation Project provided many of these records to the United Nations Truth Commission when it was created in 1992 to investigate El Salvador’s human rights catastrophe. Covered monthly on ecoi.net, for countries of priorities A, B and C (annual report (“World Report”) also for D and E) The law imposes prison sentences of up to 15 years on anyone who “solicits, demands, offers, promotes, formulates, negotiates, convenes or enters into a non-persecution agreement” with gangs. As of October 2019, the country’s jails, juvenile and youth facilities, and adult prisons held 45,439 people in custody, more than twice the official capacity, according to the online database World Prison Brief. Human Rights Watch said the actual number of those killed was probably higher.