Detained Children Tortured in El Salvador, Daily Brief August 14, 2024

More than two years ago, President Nayib Bukele announced a “war on gangs” in violence-ridden El Salvador and declared a state of emergency.

This has led to an abysmal record of human rights violations in the country.

While the longstanding high homicide rate has sharply declined, according to official figures, the mass, abuse-ridden arrests have done little to deliver justice for victims of gang violence.

Instead, the crackdown has overwhelmed El Salvador’s already fragile judicial system. Currently, around 76,000 people – 1% of the entire population – are detained, and children are paying the price.

Since March 2022, the police and military have arrested 2,900 children. And it gets worse…

A new report documents rights violations against detained children, including torture and other forms of ill-treatment, such as inhumane and unsanitary conditions, as well as lack of food, healthcare, and family contact.

Children really are double victims in this situation:

First, many of them come from backgrounds of pervasive poverty, with violence as a constant presence. This made them easy prey for the gangs that abused them and tried to recruit them.

Second, security forces stigmatize them as criminals, detain them, and mistreat them.

Over 1,100 children have been convicted, mainly on charges of gang membership, so called “unlawful association” – which is extremely broadly defined – and given harsh sentences from 10 to 20 years in prison.

The convictions were also often based on uncorroborated statements by police. Additionally, authorities coerced children into making false confessions to crimes through a combination of abusive plea deals and, at times, torture.

Bukele’s government has repeatedly portrayed security as a fair trade for human rights.

But Salvadorans should not be forced to choose between living in fear of gangs and living in fear of security forces.

And children, whether at the hands of gangs or of security forces, should not be the ones bearing the brunt of this unfair trade.