El Salvador's state of emergency accused of crimes against humanity

Amnesty International’s report “Security without rights” documents a pattern of mass arbitrary detentions, torture, forced disappearances and at least 470 deaths in detention since El Salvador’s state of emergency was declared in March 2022. The organization says more than 90,000 people have been detained without judicial warrants and that courts routinely approve these arrests, effectively rubber‑stamping the crackdown.

The report warns that the scale and organization of these abuses could amount to crimes against humanity. Amnesty’s regional director Ana Piquer said, “Security cannot be based on arbitrariness, torture, forced disappearances and the denial of a fair process,” calling for investigations into the deaths and the systematic violations under President Nayib Bukele’s exception regime.