Human Rights Watch (HRW) has released a report documenting widespread violations as part of El Salvador’s mass trials, in which hundreds of people can be tried and convicted together.
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hundreds → release → people
The report, released on Wednesday, reviews four indictments covering more than 600 defendants and a single court ruling that involved more than 120 people.
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that → release → people
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Bukele → publish → cartels
It also includes interviews with 15 defence lawyers, who say their clients were denied their due process rights and were therefore unable to adequately defend themselves at trial.
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clients → include → trial
The report concludes that defendants in the mass trials face vaguely defined charges, weak evidence and faulty proceedings.
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defendants → conclude → charges
In some cases, defence lawyers have reportedly been restricted from viewing their clients’ case files and communicating privately with the defendants.
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lawyers → restrict → defendants
“El Salvador’s mass trials are a mockery of justice,” said Juanita Goebertus, the Americas director at HRW, in a statement.
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Goebertus → say → statement
“These hearings are designed to produce guilty verdicts, not to weigh evidence under due process.
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hearings → design → process
The mass trials are part of President Nayib Bukele’s sweeping security crackdown, launched in response to a surge in organised crime in the country.
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trials → launch → country
Bukele first issued a state of emergency to address the crime wave in March 2022, suspending certain civil liberties in favour of greater powers for law enforcement officials.
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Bukele → issue → officials
Those efforts included mass arrests.
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efforts → include → arrests
The following year, El Salvador’s Congress passed a bill clearing the way for mass trials as well, allowing courts to decide cases involving hundreds of individual defendants.
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courts → pass → defendants
The Salvadoran government has defended the trials as necessary to dismantle gangs, given the scale of crime in the country.
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government → defend → country
But critics have repeatedly warned that such tactics violate basic human rights and have led to unlawful imprisonment.
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tactics → warn → imprisonment
Bukele himself has acknowledged that innocent people have been swept up in his crackdown.
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people → acknowledge → crackdown
In 2024, he said some 8,000 people who had been arrested were later released.
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who → say → 2024
“We are going to free 100 percent of the innocent people,” he pledged at the time, arguing that no system was perfect.
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system → go → time
More than 93,000 people, including more than 3,000 children, have been detained under El Salvador’s emergency order, which has been renewed multiple times since 2022.
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which → include → 2022
An estimated 120,000 people are currently imprisoned in El Salvador, equivalent to about 2 percent of the country’s population.
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people → imprison → population
The country has one of the highest incarceration rates in the world.
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country → have → world
HRW noted that many convictions in the mass trials are secured by accusing the defendants of being “collaborators” with gangs, a vague legal standard.
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convictions → note → gangs
In a single trial reviewed by the group, more than 120 people were convicted of unlawful association and sentenced to 30 or 45 years in prison.
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people → review → prison
No one was acquitted, HRW said.
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HRW → acquit → ?
HRW reported that, for the vast majority of prisoners convicted on such charges, the only evidence connecting them to a gang was a statement by one of two anonymous witnesses, who had received immunity from prosecution.
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who → report → prosecution
“Prosecutors say a person is a gang member because a police officer says so,” one lawyer anonymously told HRW.
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lawyer → say → HRW
“The prosecutor relies on the police report, and the police report relies on unspecified official intelligence or public rumours.”
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report → rely → intelligence
The cases have been presented before the Tribunals Against Organized Crime, a court system overseen by El Salvador’s Supreme Court that critics accuse of a lack of transparency.
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critics → present → transparency
The identities of the tribunals’ judges have not been disclosed, even to the lawyers involved in the proceedings.
Still, despite concerns about human rights in the country, Bukele’s government has historically enjoyed a relatively high approval rating in public polls.
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government → disclose → polls
Bukele has cited such statistics as a sign of public support for his anti-crime tactics.
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Bukele → cite → tactics
In April, Attorney General Rodolfo Delgado also defended a mass trial of nearly 500 alleged MS-13 members, saying in a social media post that the gang had operated systematically for years, causing “fear and mourning among Salvadoran families”.
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gang → defend → families
The Salvadoran government did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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government → respond → comment
In its report, HRW called for independent reviews of cases brought under the state of emergency.
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HRW → call → emergency
It also demanded that people detained without credible evidence be released.
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people → demand → evidence
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