Salvador’s prison death toll up to 512
San Salvador, Apr 3 (EFE).-
The number of people who have died in Salvadoran prisons after being detained under the state of emergency since March 2022 has risen to at least 512, according to a report released Friday by the non-governmental organization Humanitarian Legal Aid (SJH).
“The total number of confirmed deaths during the #StateOfEmergency measure has risen to 512. The two most recent deaths occurred in the IZALCO and MARIONA prisons,” the SJH, which was founded in response to this regime and provides free legal assistance to the families of detainees, posted on X.
The organization noted that the deaths have occurred primarily in prisons that house the majority of the more than 90,000 detainees under this regime, most of whom have not been convicted.
Little is known about the notorious Counterterrorism Confinement Center (CECOT) prison. According to the SJH, 94 percent of the deceased “did not fit the profile of gang members,” and warned that the number of deaths in state custody could exceed 2,000.
An SJH report released at the end of January said that physical violence is the leading cause of death among prisoners in El Salvador’s prisons, accounting for approximately 32 percent of reported cases.
The report, which gathers “accounts from family members” since official information is classified, indicates that 31.8 percent of the cases were “violent deaths,” while 31.6 percent of the deaths were attributed to “lack of medical attention for illnesses.”
The state of emergency in El Salvador has been in place since March 2022, following an escalation of gang violence that claimed the lives of more than 80 people in a single weekend.
President Nayib Bukele has defended the continuation of this measure with the support of the Legislative Assembly, dominated by the ruling party Nuevas Ideas (NI).
As of March of this year, various human rights organizations have recorded at least 6,889 complaints from victims of human rights violations, 98 percent of which involved arbitrary detention and 75 percent of which were attributed to police officers. EFE hs/tw
