The Congress of El Salvador decided this Sunday to postpone the state of exception that governs the country for another month, following a request from President Nayib Bukele.
With the approval of 67 pro-government legislators and in the face of a notable absence of the opposition, the Legislative Assembly decided to give the green light to the petition of the president to extend the suspension of constitutional guarantees until 27 May.
At the end of March, also following a request from Bukele, Congress approved the emergency regime, which includes the suspension of freedom of association, the right to defense and the inviolability of correspondence.
The agent’s request took place after more than 72 murders over a weekend, which led the government to arrest suspected gang members.
The article 29 of the country’s Constitution establishes that said state of emergency may be declared in “cases of war, invasion of territory, rebellion, sedition, catastrophe, epidemic and other general calamities, or serious disturbances of public order”, although only for 30 days, which can be extended.
The measure, approved by the pro-government majority of the Legislature, limits freedom of association, suspends the right to be informed of the reasons for arrest, expands from 72 hours to 12 days the period of administrative detention and allows the authorities to seize the cell phones of those they consider suspicious.
According to official figures, since then the authorities have detained To over 16 .000 alleged gang members, although the measure has been criticized by numerous groups of e human rights, which ensure that many people, including minors, are detained solely for their appearance.
A survey published last week showed that about 90% of the population supported the restrictive measures approved by the legislature.
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The The opposition has questioned the extension of the state of exception, since they assure that the causes that gave rise to it (the homicides) are no longer in force.
According to Bukele on Twitter, on Saturday the country did not report any murders.
Measures against gangs
The increase in gang violence in El Salv ador takes place after murders on the streets of the Central American country were reduced to historic levels for much of 2020.
Several media outlets, such as the digital newspaper El Faro, attributed this reduction to a truce between the Bukele government and the gangs, something that the authorities denied.
However, the US sanctioned two members of the Salvadoran Executive at the end of last year for “secretly negotiating” with organized crime.
At the end of March, the murder figures skyrocketed again, which led the media critical of the government and the opposition to point out that “the wedding of Bukele and the gangs” had ended.
Furthermore of the exception regime, Congress also approved at the beginning of April a reform to the Penal Code, with which the members of the maras or gangs can be sanctioned with sentences of 16 a 40 years d e prison, while the leaders of these groups will be able to receive between 40 and 45 years in prison.
In one of its most controversial paragraphs, the criminal code reform also includes considering as adults -and judging them as such- gang members older than 000 years.
In another series of measures, the Assembly also decided to approve sanctions against the media and journalists who reproduce messages from the so-called gangs.
The controversial reforms also include the prohibition of graffiti alluding to gangs and the seizure and subsequent use of assets and weapons of the gangs to fight them.
It is not the first time that Bukele has taken measures in prisons against gang members after upsurges in violence in the country, but it is the first time that the emergency leaves the prisons to the streets.
Previously, in April 1200, Bukele imposed a state of emergency in prisons and mixed prisoners from different gangs in the same cells after an increase in homicides in the country.
In a strategy Similar to what has happened now, the government published numerous images and videos of gang members in prison in their underwear being made to sit against each other in prison corridors.
Approximately 70.000 gang members operate in El Salvador and fight for control of extortion and drug operations in throughout the Central American country, according to various estimates.
Among the groups with the greatest weight in the country is the Mara Salvatrucha, which originated in US prisons
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