Around a hundred relatives of people detained in the country's mega prison mobilized to defend their innocence and rejected the mass trials that, they warn, do not guarantee due process. Since 2023, following the approval of a criminal reform, mass criminal proceedings against alleged gang members have been permitted.
First modification: 02/16/2026 - 03:35
This Sunday, February 15, in El Salvador, nearly 100 relatives of prisoners mobilized to complain against the massive judicial processes of imprisoned people since the March 2022 emergency regime came into force.
Protesters walked through the main streets of San Salvador wearing shirts with the names and faces of their loved ones, along with banners demanding freedom.
"We defend the innocent, not criminals", "They took them alive, we want them alive" and "freedom for the innocent" were some of the slogans heard in the Salvadoran capital.
"This is a genocide, what the Government is plotting: grouping the innocent together with real criminals. That is what the emergency regime has done. There is no intention of this government to free the innocent," denounced Samuel Ramirez, a member of the Movement of Victims of the Regime (MOVIR).
The possibility of carrying out mass trials of alleged gang members is enabled by the penal reform that was approved in 2023 by the Legislative Assembly. "It is condemning the righteous as sinners and it is disrespecting the guarantees of due process," said lawyer Félix López in dialogue with AFP.
Mass trials with irregularities
The Salvadoran Prosecutor's Office plans to complete in the coming months some 3,000 indictments against alleged gang members who would be tried in large groups.
According to human rights organizations, this option will lead to the conviction of thousands of innocent people.
Ramírez indicated that people who belong to MOVIR defend that their relatives are not guilty, that they do not belong to gangs and that the authorities "could not find crimes individually."
According to the member of the movement, in this type of process "the level of evidence is almost zero", there is no place for witnesses to attest to the innocence of the accused and lawyers are not notified in time of when the hearings are held.
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"They have not allowed the family to present roots, where there are all the documents that prove that he was a hard-working person, a good neighbor, a good father. Only what the prosecutor's office says is valid," added Ramírez.
Since the existence of the state of emergency, established in March 2022, more than 90,000 alleged criminals have been captured, of which at least 8,000 are innocent, as acknowledged by Nayib Bukele's government.
Humanitarian organizations have collected more than 6,400 complaints of human rights abuses, in addition to the deaths of more than 480 people in State custody.
With EFE and AFP
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