By Alejandra Garcia and Bill Hackwell on May 13, 2025
photo: office of the President of El Salvador
El Salvador has become notorious on the global stage as a major violator of human rights. Over the past few years, the government of Nayib Bukele stringent security policies—exemplified by the prolonged state of exception initiated in March 2022—have resulted in the arbitrary arrest and criminalization of tens of thousands of individuals, many of whom have no alleged ties to criminal gangs.
Detainees have frequently been subjected to systematic abuses, including physical violence, torture, and inhumane confinement conditions that have left permanent scars and, in some cases, resulted in death. This consistent pattern of repression, involving not only low-level guards but also high-ranking officials who oversee these brutal practices, has firmly established El Salvador’s reputation as a state that flagrantly disregards basic human rights.
It is like Bukele could not be more gleeful to be the fascist Latin American jailer for the US government
A newly released report from the NGO Cristosal, published by El Faro journal, confirms this outrageous reality, and proves that there is more than enough evidence for El Salvador to be tried for crimes against humanity for what goes on behind the walls of El Savador’s of the so called “Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT) in Tecolua. Cristosal detailed compelling evidence based on testimonies from detainees and extensive documentation. The report paints a disturbing picture of systematic abuse occurring behind the walls of this modern day torture center.
Since late March 2022, the Salvadoran government has maintained a state of exception in which it claims to have arrested and imprisoned more than 68,000 individuals, some are children as young as 12. This measure, originally defended as a necessary tool to combat gang-related violence, has now been renewed on a monthly basis.
However, testimonies gathered by Cristosal challenge the government’s narrative. According to Zaira Navas, who leads a team that has interviewed hundreds of detainees who suffered grave human rights violations, assured most of those arrested under the state of exception are not gang members. Instead, they appear to be ordinary citizens who have fallen victim to a ruthless security policy.
During the investigation, Cristosal received a staggering 3,275 reports of human rights violations. The majority of these accounts have come from the female relatives of detainees—wives, mothers, sisters, and daughters—who relay stories of unimaginable suffering. As of late May 2023, at least 160 detainees are known to have died while in custody.
Navas described the common signs observed on the bodies of those who died: “The majority of those who died in custody showed signs of being beaten: in the head, in the stomach, in the back, and in the legs,” she told El Faro English during an interview.
Her team, she added, has documented evidence of strangulation or asphyxiation, burns, fractures, and lacerations on the bodies of the deceased. “These findings leave little doubt that the abuses are not isolated incidents but part of a systemic pattern of torture,” Navas stated.
The report provides heartbreaking descriptions of extreme torture and abuse within prison facilities, including electric shocks and forced postures. One detainee, for example, was subjected to electric shocks while being forced to kneel on gravel until his skin broke and he began bleeding.
The report also found solitary confinement and neglect and inhumane confinement condition. In a stark illustration of collective abuse, around 145 people confined to a single cell were forced to share one glass of water and were compelled to eat directly off the floor. Such accounts illuminate a broader, systematic policy of inhumane treatment within El Salvador prisons and serve as tangible evidence of the extreme physical harm inflicted on detainees.
The report does more than catalog individual instances of abuse, since it also implicates a chain of command that transforms isolated acts of brutality into a state-sanctioned policy
“If guards beat prisoners, it’s because they’re following orders,” explained Navas. “It’s not just the individual guard who is responsible, but the head of security at the prison, the prison director, the deputy director of the Bureau of Prisons, the minister of security, and ultimately the president.” This statement underscores the systemic nature of the abuse and suggests that high-level officials are complicit in what can only be described as generalized torture.
The evidence presented in the Cristosal report offers a damning insight into the human rights crisis unfolding in El Salvador. With the state of exception persisting and reports of severe abuse mounting, the international community is being called upon to scrutinize and hold the Salvadoran government accountable for these crimes.
Meanwhile the Trump Administration seems to have no problem paying millions to Bukele to imprison as many as 300 immigrants in his torture center for being in the US with or without legal documents.
Source: Resumen Latinoamericano – English