by Alejandra Sandoval | Jun 2, 2023 | RELEASES
Cristosal Presents it’s Report Documenting Torture and more than 150 Deaths under El Salvador’s State of Exception
Cristosal’s investigation into the human rights impacts of the first year of suspended Constitutional guarantees in El Salvador presents the first substantiated account of the deaths in state custody and documents the systematic practice of torture inside the prisons. The report includes information on the situation of women, children, adolescents and the LGTBIQ+ population, as well an analysis of the judicial reforms that limit or obstruct fundamental legal guarantees of the tens of thousands of people arrested since the end of March 2022.
Cristosal documented 139 deaths of people held in custody under the state of exception from its start on March 27, 2022 and through the first year. In that time, four women and 135 men. None of the people who died had been found guilty of the crime for which they were charged at the time of arrest. By April 2023, Cristosal had recorded 153 deaths.
The findings presented in the report came from field research including investigations of mass graves and the collection of extensive photographic documentation of the bodies and medical examiner’s autopsy reports from Institute of Legal Medicine (IML). Information was also obtained through interviews with family members, neighbors, acquaintances of the deceased and from other individuals who had been detained. The vast majority of people interviewed expressed fear of retaliation from authorities if their identities were revealed or if they gave public statements. Their most pressing concern was how to care for the children of the deceased. Moreover, many of these families have also been forcibly displaced.
The investigation revealed that the deaths which occurred in state custody were the result of torture and serious and systematic injuries inflicted on the detainees. Photos showed and the IML had documented signs of asphyxiation, fractures, numerous contusions, lacerations and even puncture wounds on the bodies. Nearly half of those who died in prisons were victims of what were classified as confirmed, possible or suspected violent deaths. Nearly one-fifth of these deaths were caused by conditions indicating deliberate negligence in the provision of health care, medicine and food, including deaths caused by malnutrition.
The report details dozens of testimonies and cases. One of these cases involved a 24-year-old man who was a fisherman and died in the ambulance shortly before his arrival at the Zacamil National Hospital on the outskirts of San Salvador. His body had a puncture through one of his shoulders and lacerations on his knees, according to the IML report he died as a result of “pulmonary edema”. According to the family, the impact of the death caused his wife, who was five months pregnant, to lose their future child.
The report delves into the practice of torture and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment widely inflicted on thousands of detainees under the regimen. Such actions make it clear they are part of a policy of repression carried out by prison guards and prison administration officials. These actions obviously require the authorization and backing of the highest level security authorities.
The testimonial evidence confirms the practice torture when people are first admitted to the prisions. Examples of this include guards using batons or clubs to inflict trauma, forcing prisoners to hold certain positions such as kneeling on gravel until they bleed, being forced to squat for long periods of time, and using other means to restrain their movement. These forms of torture were reported to continue throughout their time in custody.
Among the cases investigated, some presented signs of strangulation, use of electric shock, and puncture wounds were observed on bodies of people who died while in custody. The indiscriminate use of pepper spray to inflict pain was also documented. Some of the extreme humiliations that were reported include dumping prisoners’ food on the ground and in the mud, then threatening them and forcing them to eat directly from the ground using only their mouths and calling them “dogs”. Prisoners reported having been forced to witness torture inflicted on others, including some who witnessed guards beating them to death.
One of the testimonies of torture came from a 23-year-old man. “When we arrived at the prison they took us off the bus and the first thing they did was to bend us over and force us to kneel on the gravel. We spent half an hour kneeling on the gravel and trembling with fear because we had seen what happened when another group arrived earlier; they were bent over, on their knees, and then they beat you. Next to me there was a guy who had osteoporosis, he was shaking with fear and told me ‘they are going to kill me here’, and I told him ‘calm down’. They didn’t beat me, but that guy couldn’t run because he was sick. He was going slowly and so they beat him, even though he was sick, they didn’t care about that. He told them he had to take a pill, because he was carrying some pills and he said he was going to have an attack. They didn’t care, they threw them away. They have no respect for you, for them you are useless, and you are practically trash.“
Arbitrary mass arrests mark the entry point into a cycle of terror that, in addition to what has been described above, includes the use of de facto preemptive sentencing and trials without due process. As Cristosal has pointed out in previous reports, these are systematic human rights violations, carried out as a State policy implemented at the highest level, systematically and directed at a specific segment of the population ( poor, mostly young, residents of communities in conflict), making it possible to classify them as crimes against humanity under international law.
This investigation is particularly relevant given a context marked by widespread failure to provide public information, the manipulation of statistics and the distortion of data to promote the image of the government’s handling of public security. Even the families of people who were imprisoned during the state of exception have been denied information about the living conditions of their loved ones, their health condition and, even more troubling, the date and cause of their death. The Central Office of Prisons (DGCP) does not notify the death of people in its custody whether from natural causes or violence. In most cases, the family finds out about the death through funeral home employees or, sometimes, through social media.
Cristosal calls on the Salvadoran State to shed light on the prison conditions, respect due process, release innocent people, answer for the deaths in its custody, provide all the necessary information to their families, and put an end to these practices, being protected by an unconstitutional state of exception.
Read the Executive Summary here.
by Alejandra Sandoval | May 31, 2023 | RELEASES
Executive Summary
One Year Under State of Exception: A Permanent Measure of Repression and Human Rights Violations
Cristosal’s investigation into the human rights impacts of the first year of suspended Constitutional guarantees in El Salvador presents the first substantiated account of the deaths in state custody and documents the systematic practice of torture inside the prisons. The report includes information on the situation of women, children, adolescents and the LGTBIQ+ population, as well an analysis of the judicial reforms that limit or obstruct fundamental legal guarantees of the tens of thousands of people arrested since the end of March 2022.
Cristosal documented 139 deaths of people held in custody under the state of exception from its start on March 27, 2022 and through the first year. In that time, four women and 135 men. None of the people who died had been found guilty of the crime for which they were charged at the time of arrest. By April 2023, Cristosal had recorded 153 deaths.
The findings presented in the report came from field research including investigations of mass graves and the collection of extensive photographic documentation of the bodies and medical examiner’s autopsy reports from Institute of Legal Medicine (IML). Information was also obtained through interviews with family members, neighbors, acquaintances of the deceased and from other individuals who had been detained. The vast majority of people interviewed expressed fear of retaliation from authorities if their identities were revealed or if they gave public statements. Their most pressing concern was how to care for the children of the deceased. Moreover, many of these families have also been forcibly displaced.
The investigation revealed that the deaths which occurred in state custody were the result of torture and serious and systematic injuries inflicted on the detainees. Photos showed and the IML had documented signs of asphyxiation, fractures, numerous contusions, lacerations and even puncture wounds on the bodies. Nearly half of those who died in prisons were victims of what were classified as confirmed, possible or suspected violent deaths. Nearly one-fifth of these deaths were caused by conditions indicating deliberate negligence in the provision of health care, medicine and food, including deaths caused by malnutrition.
The report details dozens of testimonies and cases. One of these cases involved a 24-year-old man who was a fisherman and died in the ambulance shortly before his arrival at the Zacamil National Hospital on the outskirts of San Salvador. His body had a puncture through one of his shoulders and lacerations on his knees, according to the IML report he died as a result of “pulmonary edema”. According to the family, the impact of the death caused his wife, who was five months pregnant, to lose their future child.
The report delves into the practice of torture and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment widely inflicted on thousands of detainees under the regimen. Such actions make it clear they are part of a policy of repression carried out by prison guards and prison administration officials. These actions obviously require the authorization and backing of the highest level security authorities.
The testimonial evidence confirms the practice torture when people are first admitted to the prisions. Examples of this include guards using batons or clubs to inflict trauma, forcing prisoners to hold certain positions such as kneeling on gravel until they bleed, being forced to squat for long periods of time, and using other means to restrain their movement. These forms of torture were reported to continue throughout their time in custody.
Among the cases investigated, some presented signs of strangulation, use of electric shock, and puncture wounds were observed on bodies of people who died while in custody. The indiscriminate use of pepper spray to inflict pain was also documented. Some of the extreme humiliations that were reported include dumping prisoners’ food on the ground and in the mud, then threatening them and forcing them to eat directly from the ground using only their mouths and calling them “dogs”. Prisoners reported having been forced to witness torture inflicted on others, including some who witnessed guards beating them to death.
One of the testimonies of torture came from a 23-year-old man. “When we arrived at the prison they took us off the bus and the first thing they did was to bend us over and force us to kneel on the gravel. We spent half an hour kneeling on the gravel and trembling with fear because we had seen what happened when another group arrived earlier; they were bent over, on their knees, and then they beat you. Next to me there was a guy who had osteoporosis, he was shaking with fear and told me ‘they are going to kill me here’, and I told him ‘calm down’. They didn’t beat me, but that guy couldn’t run because he was sick. He was going slowly and so they beat him, even though he was sick, they didn’t care about that. He told them he had to take a pill, because he was carrying some pills and he said he was going to have an attack. They didn’t care, they threw them away. They have no respect for you, for them you are useless, and you are practically trash.“
Arbitrary mass arrests mark the entry point into a cycle of terror that, in addition to what has been described above, includes the use of de facto preemptive sentencing and trials without due process. As Cristosal has pointed out in previous reports, these are systematic human rights violations, carried out as a State policy implemented at the highest level, systematically and directed at a specific segment of the population ( poor, mostly young, residents of communities in conflict), making it possible to classify them as crimes against humanity under international law.
This investigation is particularly relevant given a context marked by widespread failure to provide public information, the manipulation of statistics and the distortion of data to promote the image of the government’s handling of public security. Even the families of people who were imprisoned during the state of exception have been denied information about the living conditions of their loved ones, their health condition and, even more troubling, the date and cause of their death. The Central Office of Prisons (DGCP) does not notify the death of people in its custody whether from natural causes or violence. In most cases, the family finds out about the death through funeral home employees or, sometimes, through social media.
Cristosal calls on the Salvadoran State to shed light on the prison conditions, respect due process, release innocent people, answer for the deaths in its custody, provide all the necessary information to their families, and put an end to these practices, being protected by an unconstitutional state of exception.
English-language coverage or our report: El País, The Guardian, NBC, Vice News, Los Ángeles Times and Fox News.
by Alejandra Sandoval | May 5, 2023 | Uncategorized
Impact report 2022
by Alejandra Sandoval | Mar 31, 2023 | RELEASES
We stand in solidarity with the families of the tragic fire at the INAMI facilities in Ciudad Juarez
We stand in solidarity with the families of the 39 victims of the tragic fire at the INAMI facilities in Ciudad Juarez who died in search of opportunities and access to rights that were not guaranteed in their countries of origin.
We offer the protection system in Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras to provide psychosocial support to the families.
We ask the States to guarantee access to justice for the families of the victims by investigating and determining responsibility for what has occurred.
We also stress the urgency of ensuring dignified humanitarian care policies for migrants in transit countries.
We urge the authorities of the region to implement long-term policies to address the structural aspects of migration to prevent this phenomenon contributing to family disintegration and impacting the wellbeing of communities.
We call on the countries of origin to provide adequate psychosocial care to these families.
As a regional human rights organization, we urge governments to join efforts to guarantee the dignity and human rights of migrants.
by Alejandra Sandoval | Mar 31, 2023 | RELEASES
One Year Under the State of Exception
During the 12 months since the state of exception began there have been thousands of cases of arbitrary arrests and detentions of people living and working in areas where gangs operate and even for simply having tattoos. Detained individuals have not had access to their defense attorney or other basic rights. Of these 65,000 people the government has said to have detained, none have been brought to trial.
by Alejandra Sandoval | Mar 24, 2023 | RELEASES
San Romero Reflection by Santana Alvarado
My stomach was in knots, thumping to the hasty rhythm of my heart, as I made my way to Dulles International Airport. As a new board member I was eager to travel to El Salvador for the first time. I was beginning a pilgrimage that would mark the birth of my hands-on commitment to Cristosal’s mission of defending human rights in the region. I was a ball of nerves until I landed, when I was warmly welcomed by the rising sun and a curious motmot, the national bird, who seemed to understand how important this trip was for me.
As sure as you are to encounter the face of San Salvador’s volcano, you will stumble upon the gentle, inquisitive, brown eyes of Saint Óscar Romero. In shops, schools, parks, and churches, the portrait of El Salvador’s first saint greets you.
On this, the 43rd anniversary of his assassination, I invite you to suspend belief in what you see around you, and instead imagine the world Archbishop Romero knew was possible, the one he preached about from the pulpit on Sunday mornings. I offer you a brief interview between San Romero and I, creatively inspired by direct quotes from and interpretations of his homilies.
What inspired you to speak out against state violence and in defense of the poor? I’m sure you didn’t know you would become a beacon of human rights liberation at the time.
It was the death of Father Rutilio Grande, whom I consider a brother. The liberation that Father Grande preached is inspired by faith and I believe it is liberation which culminates in happiness with God. This is the liberation that Father Rutilio Grande preached and it is maintained by Paul VI’s message to, ‘lament the anguish of those who remain on the margin of life, suffering from famine, chronic disease, illiteracy, and poverty.’ I was pushed to ask myself – what does the church contribute to this universal struggle for liberation?
With everything going on in El Salvador in your time and now in 2023, how can human rights defenders, including those who aren’t religious, hold fast to hope? What can you say to them?
As human rights defenders, we understand anguish. We continue to console, continue to bring comfort to painful situations. Hope is not alienation. It is hope that makes it worthwhile to engage in struggle, to be honorable.2 I ask all of you to view these things that are happening in our historical moment with a spirit of hope, generosity, and sacrifice. And let us do what we can.
There is a story about a caravan traveling through the desert with a Bedouin as guide. The travelers were desperate and thirsty, searching for water in the mirages of the desert, but their Bedouin guide kept saying, ‘Not that way, but this way.’ He had spoken these words so many times that a member of the caravan became frustrated, took out a gun and shot the guide. As the guide was dying, he extended his hand and said one last time, ‘Not that way, but this way.’ He died pointing the way to a well. We live with a hope and we die convinced of this hope. It is an ideal that never dies; it is a hand extended like that of the Bedouin in the desert who kept saying, ‘Not that way, but this way.’
You were assassinated on Sunday morning delivering a homily about a topic that is now associated with you around the world and especially in the heart of every Salvadoran: the true liberation of our people. Your life means so much to us freedom fighters. Still, do you have any regrets?
Many people don’t understand the message. They think that Christianity should not get involved in these things, but quite the opposite is true. We must not love our lives so much that we avoid taking the risks in life that history calls for. I am worried about the danger of insensitivity. We can become accustomed to seeing things and hearing news of this sort to the point where the killings no longer seem shocking for many people.
We have seen this insensitivity in many places, but we expect everyone to show their solidarity, just as a family expects it when one of them is suffering. Let us not give weapons to our enemies by our attitude of complicit insensitivity. I believe we can have a world without injustices, a world with respect for rights, a world with generous participation by all, a world without repression, a world without torture (1977). A world where there are no longer social classes, no more racial discrimination. There is no longer superior and inferior. This is a liberation that places hope in people’s hearts.
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by Alejandra Sandoval | Mar 16, 2023 | RELEASES
The Remains of 16 Victims of the El Mozote Massacre are Finally Laid to Rest
Forensic authorities handed over the remains of 16 victims of the massacre at El Mozote, perpetrated by the army in 1981 during El Salvador’s civil war (1980-1992),on Wednesday to their families for burial.
“This is important for us as relatives and victims that we are, because now we can finally say goodbye and lay them to rest,” said Cruz Vigil, vice president of the Association for the Promotion of Human Rights of El Mozote (APDHEM).
The skeletal remains were taken from the exhumations carried out in 2016 in the communities of Cerro Pando, La Joya and Toriles, near El Mozote, confirming the survivors’ testimonies about the murders of their relatives.
“After so much waiting, they are now with us. Today we can place flowers on their graves, they way it should be done,” said Maria Ascencio Pereira.
On Wednesday night, a wake was held with the remains of the 16 victims present, including those of a pregnant woman. On Thursday the funerals of 10 victims took place at the monument to the victims in the community of La Joya, four in the cemetery of Meanguera and two in Arambala, all towns in the department of Morazán, northeast of San Salvador.
“For Cristosal and for the victims, this is a very meaningful event because it is a form of reparation. It is an act that reaffirms a historical truth”. Antonio Aguilar, lawyer for Cristosal’s transitional justice team.
In 1981, soldiers of the Army’s now outlawed Atlacatl Battalion executed 986 people, including 558 children, in El Mozote and surrounding communities on suspicion of collaborating with the guerrillas.
The civil war ended on January 16, 1992 and left more than 75,000 dead and disappeared. In 2012, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, based in Costa Rica, condemned the Salvadoran State for the El Mozote massacre, the most serious of the Salvadoran civil war, and ordered reparation measures.
by Alejandra Sandoval | Mar 14, 2023 | RELEASES
Cristosal Sues the Ministry of Health for Failing to Compensate the Deaths of Frontline Health Workers
Cristosal filed 17 lawsuits against the Ministry of Health of El Salvador (MINSAL) for failing to compensate the families of public health workers who died between March 14 and July 23, 2020 as a result of Covid-19 or its complications.
The families of health workers have been waiting for more than two years for a $30,000 compensation that was approved in June 2020 by the Legislative Assembly and signed by President Bukele in September of the same year.
Under this law, MINSAL was given fifteen working days to compile a registry with the information of all the members of the National Health System who died during the previously mentioned time period and identify the persons entitled to compensation. The Ministry was also ordered to find and administer the funds to guarantee the compensation. However, as of today, this obligation has not been met.
Cristosal’s lawyers are seeking to have the court put further pressure on the Ministry of Health so these families will receive this financial support in as short a time as possible
by Alejandra Sandoval | Mar 10, 2023 | RELEASES
Communities of Usulután and Cristosal denounce the Salvadoran state for human rights violations during state of exception.
Mother seeking information about they son detained under a state of exception.
Cristosal, on behalf of 66 victims from organized communities in Usulután, El Salvador, filed a complaint against the Salvadoran State before the IACHR for systematic human rights violations during the state of exception.
According to the complaint, all of the detentions were arbitrary, with no motive or prior police, prosecutorial or judicial order. The detainees were sent immediately to prisons in which they were placed with both convicted prisoners and those awaiting trial. The families did not receive information on the detainees’ whereabouts, state of health or legal situation, and the detainees did not have access to their families or defense counsel. It is unknown whether the detainees suffered cruel, inhuman, degrading treatment or torture.
The detainees were brought before a judge after 15 days, and most of them were accused of belonging to gangs or collaborating with them. During the initial hearing, the detainees were not allowed to communicate with their attorneys and were held with dozens or hundreds of other detainees without the right to be heard.
Prior to the complaint before the IACHR, habeas corpus petitions have been filed in the Constitutional Chamber on behalf of the victims, but none have been admitted or resolved to date, except with provisos and in some cases were ruled inadmissible.
Cristosal and the families of the victims request the IACHR to ask the Salvadoran State:
- To take measures to protect the life and integrity of the victims during their time in detention, as well as to guarantee access to adequate medical care.
- To allow access to legal representatives and family members, as well as to inform them about their health and legal situation.
- To take measures to reduce overcrowding and to report on the actions taken. All of this must be in agreement with the affected persons and their representatives.
by Alejandra Sandoval | Mar 8, 2023 | RELEASES
“We don’t feel like we did before, we are different”: A story of resistance women.
Under the shade of a century-old tree, a group of more than 35 women gather to tell their story, which has been the most difficult and painful of their lives. Among these women is Arely, a young woman who tells how violence forced her and her family to flee their home and the human and material losses caused by this displacement.
“We left for fear of dying, out of fear for our children. They were crying and shouting, ‘mom, let’s go, let’s get out or they will kill us,'” Arely says.
A cousin of Arely’s found out through social media about an organization that understands her suffering and provides support and guidance. That organization was Cristosal. This is when they decided to come together and seek help.
“We had to keep standing up for those who stayed, keep going forward and fight for those who came with us”, says.
Cristosal received this report of forced displacement caused by violence in May 2021. Since then, Cristosal has been providing psychosocial support and helping them find durable, sustainable, solutions. Some time later, through a project funded by AWO, Cristosal began organizing women community leaders who had previously been victims of forced displacement.
“Through Cristosal we participated in workshops, psychological care for how we were feeling, who we were before the trauma we went through, and what we had to overcome. So we created a plan showing where we came from and where we want to go, and how we can achieve it”, Arely says.
With the tools provided by Cristosal and with the motivation fueled by her faith and her community, Arely and her family founded the “Manos Unidas Haciendo Memoria” (Hands Joined in Making Memories), a collective in which they rediscover their strength, abilities and understand the importance of their rights.
“We don’t feel like we did before, we are different. We used to only cry and think about what we had lost, about the material things. But we had something valuable: our lives, our families.”
Many Salvadoran families are still being displaced by the violence both by the state and by the gangs that control the area. But experiences such as that of the Manos Unidas Collective, uphold Cristosal’s commitment to work from and for these communities.
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