Press Release: Silence is not an Option
Cristosal’s findings on the manipulation of the justice system and the human cost of two years of the state of exception
The report reveals grave human rights violations, including imprisonment without conviction, deaths of infants and innocent adults, and the exacerbation of social and gender inequalities.
San Salvador, July 10, 2024. El Salvador has been under a state of exception since March 2022. As a response to combat the country’s powerful street gangs, this “temporary measure” suspended constitutional rights, such as the presumption of innocence and the right to a fair trial. Cristosal presents its findings of our two-year investigation on the impact. The effects of these punitive policies have not only resulted in the deaths of 265 people in state custody, but have had a ripple effect throughout Salvadoran society, which is disproportionately felt by women.
Our report, entitled, “Silence is not an Option: Investigation into the practices of torture, death, and failed justice in the state of exception” draws from 3,643 reports Cristosal has received of abuses or rights violations, 110 interviews, and the analysis of 7,742 cases of women detained under the state of exception. It draws from an in-depth investigation into 265 deaths (4 of which were infants) and the systematization and study of a sample of 1,178 cases of people detained between 2022 and 2024. We found the following:
- Mass detentions as a result of the state of exception have impacted society as a while, leaving children without primary caregivers placing additional burdens on women;
- Torture has become a state policy, with cruel and inhuman treatment regularly practices in prisons and places of detention This, combined with deplorable conditions and lack of access to medical care has led to the deaths of at least 265 people in state custody, including four infants.
- The justice system has failed and is complicit in the systematic violation of the human rights of the Salvadoran people.
The case of Dina Hernández,a 28-year-old human rights activist who was 35 weeks pregnant when she was arrested, illustrates all three findings. Ms. Martínez was arrested last March, accused of illicit association, and held without evidence. A judge granted her alternative measures to detention 24 hours later, but the prison authorities where she was held did not comply. On the same day, another court ordered her arrest, accusing her of a different crime. Three weeks later, her family received a call from prison authorities to come and collect the body of her newborn–Dina had lost her child while detained. The family still has no information about Dina’s health condition and does not know if she has received post-natal care.
Cristosal has found that her case is not an isolated one, but part of a larger pattern of abuse perpetrated by the Salvadoran state. Cristosal’s investigation reveals a deeply disturbing pattern of state-perpetrated abuse in El Salvador, with evidence suggesting potential crimes against humanity. We continue to sound the alarm about these grave violations and demand justice and reparation for all victims held in state custody. Cristosal calls for the immediate release of all innocent individuals unjustly imprisoned and urges the Salvadoran government to uphold its human rights obligations.