El Salvador puts nearly 500 alleged MS-13 gangsters on mass trial

Key Points:

• El Salvador has initiated a massive joint trial involving nearly 500 alleged MS-13 gang members facing charges such as homicide, extortion, femicide, and arms trafficking, as part of President Nayib Bukele’s strict anti-crime measures under a prolonged state of emergency.
• Human rights groups, including Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, criticize these mass trials for violating due process rights, including the right to individualized defense, presumption of innocence, and adequate legal representation.
• The state of emergency, in place since 2022, has suspended fundamental rights like timely legal counsel and extended detention periods, raising concerns from the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights about human rights impacts.
• Since the emergency began, over 91,000 alleged gang members have been arrested, with thousands reportedly detained arbitrarily and at least 500 deaths in custody; Bukele has admitted that around 8,000 innocent people were mistakenly arrested and later released.
• Previous collective trials have resulted in lengthy prison sentences for gang members, underscoring Bukele’s tough stance on organized crime, but also fueling ongoing debates about justice and human rights protections in El Salvador.