Basic guarantees of due process in El Salvador are rapidly deteriorating. Recent reports published by the Due Process of Law Foundation expose the incompatibility of the legal reforms introduced under the state of exception measures with international law. On March 27, 2022, the Legislative Assembly of El Salvador approved the Legislative Decree No. 333, marking the beginning of an unprecedented state of exception. This measure was proposed by President Nayib Bukele to address the security crisis driven by gang violence. Since then, the state of exception has been successively extended on more than 15 occasions and has resulted in the detention of more than 71,000 people. Civil society organizations and relatives of detainees have raised their voices, denouncing more than 6,400 cases of human rights violations. In addition, more than 174 deaths of people under state custody have been documented. The state of exception has been accompanied by a series of reforms to the criminal laws, reducing or eliminating basic guarantees of due process. The Due Process of Law Foundation’s reports also highlight the profound impacts they may have on the rights of individuals.

Learn more here (analysis reports are available in Spanish only).