‘Dehumanising’ photos of prisoners in El Salvador horrify human rights groups
- Photos of tightly packed prisoners in El Salvador shock human rights defenders
- President ordered crackdown on gang members blamed for spike in homicides
Right groups condemned El Salvador’s president for releasing startling photos of hundreds of jailed gang members stripped to underwear and pressed together in formation, part of a punishment for an outbreak of violence.
The images published at the weekend on the Twitter account of President Nayib Bukele’s office stood in contrast to social-distancing measures around the world, including an obligatory home quarantine in El Salvador to stop the new coronavirus spreading.
They were followed by orders from Bukele to place members of gangs, including the notorious MS-13, in sealed, steel boxlike cells and permission to use lethal force against gang members on the streets.
Bukele’s latest action follows controversy over his disregard for Supreme Court rulings that he should uphold the constitution and his recent use of the military to intimidate Congress.
Jose Miguel Vivanco, the executive director of Human Rights Watch for the Americas, said El Salvador risked sliding into autocracy without reprobation from global powers.
