A report warns of crimes against humanity under the state of exception in El Salvador

San Salvador.- In the framework of the exception regime implemented in El Salvador since March 2022 by the Government of President Nayib Bukele, with the support of the Congress dominated by the ruling party Nuevas Ideas (NI), human rights violations would have been committed that “could constitute crimes against humanity”, according to a report released this Tuesday. The report, presented at a public hearing of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) in Guatemala, was prepared by the International Group of Experts for the Investigation of Human Rights Violations within the framework of the State of Exception in El Salvador (GIPES). “The report concludes that there are reasonable grounds to believe that, within the framework of the exception regime, crimes against humanity are being committed in accordance with Article 7 of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC),” the document read during the session indicates. Furthermore, “documented cases indicate the existence of a police and military action policy, known and even promoted by the highest authorities of President Nayib Bukele’s government.”

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Leonor Arteaga, from the Due Process of Law Foundation (DPLF), a Washington (USA) organization, pointed out during the hearing that “El Salvador has been presented as an example of success in reducing crime. However, victims, civil society organizations and journalists have personally suffered the high costs of this publicized success.” “Arbitrary detentions, forced disappearances, massive violations of due process, and acts of torture have become systematic practices in the country. Today, many Salvadorans have stopped fearing gangs to start fearing the state itself,” said Arteaga.

Crimes against the population

In a statement shared by DPLF, expert Susana SáCouto noted that “the documented facts point to the commission of international crimes against the civilian population, including imprisonment in violation of fundamental norms of international law —including the detention of girls, boys and adolescents—, torture, murders, forced disappearances, sexual violence, persecution and other inhumane acts”.

He pointed out that until August 2025 “403 deaths in state custody have been documented, including four children, and until February 2025, 540 cases of forced disappearance were recorded.” GIPES recommended the creation, by the United Nations Human Rights Council, of an international fact-finding mission on human rights violations to “ensure accountability and justice.”

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The report was supported by the Due Process Foundation (DPLF), the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ), InterJust; the IMPACTUM Research Project and the Program for the Study of Human Rights in Context, from Ghent University (Belgium).