The Salvadoran president’s announcement of a plan to release thousands of prisoners who were jailed during the state of emergency comes too late for the families. Their relatives have been scarred by torture, mass trials and years of imprisonment

Within the first two months of the state of emergency in El Salvador imposed by President Nayib Bukele back in 2022, two of Gladis Álvarez’s sons were arrested and accused of being gang associates. Since then, the 53-year-old woman’s life has fallen apart. “There were eight of us in my family. Now, I’m the only one left,” Álvarez laments. “Since my sons were arrested, our lives have been destroyed in a terrible way,” she adds.

  • Humanius@lemmy.worldEnglish
    5·
    2 hours ago

    You are running from the assumption that anyone who is locked up in these prisons is also actually guilty of having been involved in gang violence. However there is a lot of indication that a significant portion of innocent people have been swept up in the prisons as well, without access to a proper legal defence.

    And, in my opinion, the Salvadorian prison system is so horrifically barbaric that accidentally innocently locking people up is akin to violating their basic human rights.