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Press Release
El Salvador: The Institutionalization of Human Rights Violations After Two Years of Emergency Rule
The government of El Salvador continues to ignore its international human rights obligations through maintaining a state of emergency as the mainstay of its security strategy.
March 27, 2024
Press Release
El Salvador: Policies, practices, and abusive, arbitrary legislation violate human rights and threaten civic space
El Salvador is experiencing an alarming regression in the respect for and protection of human rights as reported in Amnesty International's new report.
December 5, 2023
Press Release
President Bukele Engulfs El Salvador in a Human Rights Crisis After Three Years in Government
Under the current state of emergency, the Salvadoran authorities have committed massive human rights violations, including thousands of arbitrary detentions and violations of due process, as well as torture and ill-treatment, and at least 18 people have died in state custody, Amnesty International said today, following its research into the crisis in the country. President Bukele’s government declared a state of emergency on March 27, following a spike in homicides allegedly committed by gangs, which has since been extended twice.
June 2, 2022
Press Release
Sentence in El Salvador for Obstetric Emergency is a Travesty of Justice
In response to a court ruling in El Salvador that sentenced a woman to 30 years in prison for aggravated homicide after suffering an obstetric emergency, Erika Guevara-Rosas, Americas director at Amnesty International, said:
May 11, 2022
Press Release
Amnesty International verifies use of Pegasus spyware for surveillance of journalists in El Salvador
A joint investigation by Access Now and the Citizen Lab has identified the use of NSO Group’s Pegasus spyware against journalists and members of civil society organizations in El Salvador on a massive scale. Technical experts from the Amnesty International Security Lab have peer-reviewed the report and independently verified forensic evidence showing that Pegasus has been misused in the country.
January 13, 2022
Press Release
Governments and Police Must Stop Using COVID-19 Pandemic as Pretext for Abuse
Abusive policing and excessive reliance on law enforcement to implement COVID-19 response measures have violated human rights and in some instances made the health crisis worse, Amnesty International said today.
December 16, 2020
Report
Countries cracked down on asylum and the right to protest in the Americas in 2019
As millions took to the streets to protest rampant violence, inequality, corruption and impunity, or were forced to flee their countries in search of safety, states across the Americas clamped down on the rights to protest and seek asylum last year with flagrant disregard for their obligations under domestic and international law, Amnesty International said today upon launching its annual report for the region. “2019 brought a renewed assault on human rights across much of the Americas, with intolerant and increasingly authoritarian leaders turning to ever-more violent tactics to stop people from protesting or seeking safety in another country. But…
February 27, 2020
Press Release
El Salvador Agreement Must Be Condemned Immediately
Responding to reports of a cooperative agreement between the United States and El Salvador, which would potentially force certain asylum-seekers to request asylum there, Charanya Krishnaswami, the advocacy director for the Americas at Amnesty International USA, said: “This agreement makes a mockery of the right to asylum. People should not be forced to seek safety in countries where they will not be safe. “El Salvador has one of the highest rates of violence in the world, including gender-based violence so rampant that Amnesty International declared it one of the most dangerous countries in the world to be a woman. It…
September 20, 2019
Press Release
Trump Administration’s Asylum Ban Could be a Death Sentence for People Seeking Safety
Today, Amnesty International condemned the Supreme Court’s decision allowing the Trump administration’s asylum ban to temporarily proceed. Charanya Krishnaswami, the Advocacy Director for the Americas at Amnesty International USA, stated: “The asylum ban the Supreme Court has upheld could be a death sentence for people in search of safety and protection. The asylum ban is grounded in an ideology of hatred and xenophobia, and it cannot stand. “Every person has the right to seek safety: this is a moment that will prove itself infamous, when the country turned its back on those it used to welcome and chose to ignore…
September 12, 2019
Press Release
El Salvador: Failure to decriminalize abortion is a terrible blow to human rights
The failure to pass a reform to decriminalize abortion during El Salvador’s latest legislative cycle is a sickening step backwards for human rights, said Amnesty International today. “El Salvador’s lawmakers have blood on their hands after declining to even discuss the reform to decriminalize abortion. This desperately needed bill would have saved the lives of countless women and girls who are needlessly put at risk by the total ban on abortion. The wasted opportunity to end this injustice is a terrible blow to human rights in El Salvador,” said Erika Guevara-Rosas, Americas director at Amnesty International. El Salvador’s Legislative Assembly…
April 27, 2018
Press Release
El Salvador: Government must decriminalize abortion following release of woman jailed for stillbirth
Maira VerĂłnica Figueroa MarroquĂn, a 34-year-old woman who spent 15 years in prison after suffering a stillbirth, was released from prison on Tuesday following the reduction of her 30-year sentence for “aggravated homicide” under El Salvador’s total abortion ban. In response to her release, Erika Guevara-Rosas, Amnesty International’s Americas Director, said:
March 14, 2018
Press Release
El Salvador: Failure to release woman jailed after miscarriage, outrageous step backward for justice
A court’s decision not to release a woman forced to spend a decade behind bars after having a miscarriage in El Salvador is an outrageous step backward for justice, Amnesty International said.
December 14, 2017