International legal experts filed a formal complaint Tuesday with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, charging that El Salvador’s government has engaged in crimes against humanity.
The legal filing details allegations of widespread torture, killings, and forced disappearances occurring during the nation’s state of emergency, which President Nayib Bukele’s administration put into effect four years ago this month.
According to the complaint, there exist “reasonable grounds” to conclude that crimes against humanity, as outlined in Article 7 of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, are taking place in the Central American nation.
The document further contends that these human rights violations stem from government policy “known and even promoted by the highest levels of President Nayib Bukele’s government.”
Bukele’s administration first enacted the emergency measures on March 27, 2022, responding to an outbreak of gang-related violence that claimed 87 lives during a single weekend period.
Since implementing the emergency powers, government forces have imprisoned more than 90,000 individuals, with approximately 500 of those held in custody dying while in state facilities.
Government statistics indicate that murders have dropped by over 90% during Bukele’s presidency.
However, Salvadoran Public Defender General Rene Escobar pushed back against the accusations, stating that the administration rejects any policy involving “forced disappearance, torture, sexual violence, or arbitrary executions.”
