SAN SALVADOR – At least 3,000 people who were detained under El Salvador’s sweeping emergency anti-gang laws have been released after being deemed “innocent” of any crime, President Nayib Bukele said yesterday.
“In El Salvador, throughout the emergency regime, more than 3,000 people who were innocent have been released,” said the president during a public event near the capital San Salvador.
The release of detainees follows the government’s launch in early 2022 of a frontal “war” against violent gangs plaguing the Central American country.
More than 61,000 people suspected of being gang members have been arrested, and of that total some 3,000 have now been released.
Last week, El Salvador’s legislature extended a state of emergency for 30 days, starting yesterday and lasting until February 15.
It was first introduced in late March, after a wave of murders attributed to criminal gangs that have plagued El Salvador and other countries in the region.
The state of emergency has been criticized by human rights groups, with particular concern expressed about the powers it grants authorities to make arrests without warrants. – AFP, January 18, 2023
