El Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele has announced a significant plan to conditionally release up to half of the more than 90,000 individuals imprisoned under a sweeping state of emergency enacted to combat violent criminal gangs. This initiative, revealed Tuesday night, targets prisoners deemed ‘gang collaborators,’ a broad classification that can encompass individuals who acted as lookouts or made extortion payments, acknowledging that while many committed crimes, their primary offense was association. Bukele stated that arresting everyone who collaborated with gangs would necessitate imprisoning 20% of the population, implying a need for a more nuanced approach. The plan involves analyzing cases for potential early release under monitoring, a move that could affect a substantial portion of those detained since the state of emergency was declared in March 2022 following a surge in gang violence. While the emergency measures, repeatedly extended beyond their initial 30-day period, have been credited by the government with a dramatic reduction in the country’s homicide rate and an increase in tourism, they have also led to the suspension of constitutional protections and widespread criticism from human rights groups. These organizations have denounced the crackdown for alleged arbitrary arrests, documented thousands of complaints, and reported hundreds of deaths in custody, arguing that the potential release of prisoners does not compensate for the harm caused by prolonged detention, including physical and mental suffering, family disruption, and reputational damage. Bukele, however, has dismissed these criticisms, urging human rights groups to side with victims of gang violence, and maintains the necessity of the state of emergency, even as he expresses a long-term goal of ending it, despite government statistics on homicide rate reduction being questioned due to altered definitions that exclude certain killings.
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