Report: Children Abused in El Salvador's Prisons

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Facts

According to a Human Rights Watch report published Tuesday, over 60 children in El Salvador have been arbitrarily detained and abused in the two years since the government declared a state of emergency to combat criminal gangs.¹
The report alleges that El Salvadorian police rounded up 3,319 children and teenagers between March 2022 and April 2024, when the emergency was introduced that suspended certain civil rights and allowed arrests without a warrant.¹
The rights group claims children were detained in 'countless indiscriminate raids' that mostly targeted low-income neighborhoods and teenagers with low socioeconomic status and 'no apparent connection to gangs' abusive activity.'²
Based on over 90 interviews, the report alleged prison authorities subjected children to severe ill-treatment, 'including beatings and sexual assault,' and deprived the minors of food, healthcare, and access to their families.³
Pres. Nayib Bukele's administration has detained more than 80K alleged gangsters, which reportedly reduced its homicide rate and turned El Salvador from one of Latin America's deadliest countries to one of its safest.⁴
In 2015, nearly 1% of the population were members of two criminal gangs, Barrio 18 and MS13, and the homicide rate was 103 per 100K people. Since the beginning of the emergency, the homicide rate has fallen to 2.4 per 100K.⁵

Narrative A, as provided by Guardian. Bukele's state of emergency and his indiscriminate detention policies are a human rights nightmare. Thousands of innocent children from vulnerable communities are being unrightfully detained and charged with crimes they didn't commit. Many of these children are being housed and tortured in inhumane conditions. These policies need to end, and more care needs to be taken to protect the rights of children in El Salvador.
Narrative B, as provided by South China Morning Post. Bukele is a hero. For decades, El Salvador has been a criminal hellscape run by gangs. This state of emergency has finally taken control back into the hands of the government and the people, bringing back down the murder rate and making it a safer country. While more should be done to make sure children aren't accidentally swept up in these raids, these policies must continue as they make El Salvador a better country.