The president of El Salvador Nayib Bukele has declared a “war on gangs.” In doing so, he aims to decrease homicide rates, increase security, and make El Salvador safer for its citizens. Unfortunately, the “war on gangs” has been having a negative effect on innocent citizens due to how extreme the measures that are taken are.
According to AP News, President Bukele has detained over 76,000 people in his attempts to rid El Salvador of gangs. Although this may seem like he is putting an end to the gangs in El Salvador, he has arrested many people with little to no evidence. This is also having a detrimental effect on the children of these people as the children are being displaced and have nowhere to go. Many communities are being harmed negatively and are being further destabilized by the mass arrests occurring. The conditions of the prisons are terrible; the high amount of arrests has led to overcrowded detention centers which has exacerbated poor conditions
Al Jazeera continues that many children have also been arrested in the mass arrests of people with ties to gangs. This has created severe human rights violations against children in El Salvador with over 3,000 children being arrested. Many of the children that were arrested did not have any actual ties to the gangs, but because they came from low-income areas they were targeted. Within the children that got arrested, at least 60 have faced abuse within the prisons. Many are being deprived of food and healthcare and are being forced into falsely confessing. The psychological impact on these children is profound, causing long-term trauma. Additionally, many families have been left in a state of disarray, struggling to cope with the absence of their loved ones and the ongoing uncertainty.
Many people have spoken out and have said that it is unfair that many innocent people and children are being arrested for crimes that have no evidence linking them to it just because of their physical appearance or their socioeconomic status. Many people have spoken out saying that the government needs to take a less abusive approach that respects the rights of people. President Bukele has claimed that he is solving a huge problem that El Salvador is facing, but he does not respond to the criticism that he often gets. According to Time, President Bukele has said that he is bringing prosperity to El Salvador. He ignores the human rights abuses going on in the prisons.
Human rights organizations and international observers have raised alarms over the increasing number of arbitrary detentions and the conditions in which detainees, especially children, are being held. Reports of overcrowded prisons, lack of legal representation, and due process violations have been rampant. Critics argue that while the intention behind the crackdown on gangs might be rooted in a genuine desire to improve public safety, the methods employed are counterproductive and only serve to exacerbate the suffering of already vulnerable populations. They stress that sustainable security solutions are needed in El Salvador to address the root causes of gang violence, rather than relying solely on punitive measures.
Written by Sirisha Kunamneni
