In early March, El Salvador introduced a strict quarantine lock-down, despite authorities announcing that there were no confirmed cases of Covid-19. The country’s measures—which have included the use of the armed forces and national police to enforce quarantine, and the detention of people in forced confinement for breaching the lock-down—have prompted concerns that President Bukele is utilising the pandemic to consolidate his power. On 30 April, a network of NGOs including Amnesty International published an open letter to the President, expressing concern regarding the government’s actions. “The authorities have detained thousands of people and taken them to holding centres that often lack measures to ensure a minimum level of sanitation and physical separation. With this strategy, the government only increases the risk of contagion instead of protecting people from the virus.”
Particular concerns have arisen regarding conditions in the country’s penitentiary establishments, which are notorious for their degrading and inhumane conditions. Following reports of a spate of homicides across the country on 24 April, authorities initiated collective punishment by locking down prisons. President Bukele tweeted that gang members would be isolated, inmates would be denied all contact with the outside world, and activities would be suspended until further notice. Images shared online depict prisoners stripped and stacked together while the police searched their cells. Only some are seen as wearing facemasks, and no efforts to follow social-distancing measures are in place. Reportedly, the emergency declaration in detention facilities would be extended indefinitely.
Amidst news of Mexico emptying its detention centres and returning detainees to countries of origin, El Salvador’s Ministry of Foreign Relations confirmed that 41 Salvadorian migrants had been returned on 23 April. The capital’s airport reportedly remains open to receive flights with deportees who, upon arrival, are transferred to one of the nine quarantine facilities setup in San Salvador.
- R. Mellen, “El Salvador’s President Says The Country Has No Coronavirus Cases, Declares a National Quarantine,” Washington Post, 12 March 2020, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/the_americas/el-salvador-nayib-bukele-coronavirus-quarantine/2020/03/12/d920e9a4-6404-11ea-8a8e-5c5336b32760_story.html
- Amnesty International, “El Salvador: International Organizations Call on President Bukele To Respect Human Rights in Response to Covid-19,” 30 April 2020, https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2020/04/el-salvador-presidente-bukele-derechos-humanos-covid19/
- Human Rights Watch, “El Salvador: Inhumane Prison Lockdown Treatment,” 29 April 2020, https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/04/29/el-salvador-inhumane-prison-lockdown-treatment
- E. Ayala, “La pandemia incrementa vulnerabilidad de migrantes centroamericanos,” Inter Press Service, April 2020, https://www.ipsnoticias.net/2020/04/la-pandemia-incrementa-vulnerabilidad-migrantes-centroamericanos/
- Prisoners Handcuffed and Stacked Together as Punishment for Spate of Violence Within Prisons, (Jose Cabezas, Reuters, “Harrowing Photos Show Prisoners Stacked Together as Punishment for a Spate of Violence in El Salvador,” Insider, 30 April 2020, https://www.insider.com/harrowing-photos-show-prisoners-stacked-together-in-el-salvador-2020-4)
