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The newspaper La Jornada
Thursday, July 11, 2024, p. 26

San Salvador. At least 176 Salvadoran children have been orphaned by the death of one of their parents in prison under the state of emergency used by President Nayib Bukele since March 2022 to combat gangs, the non-governmental organization Cristosal reported yesterday.

It has been determined that at least 176 sons and daughters of detained persons were orphaned by the death of their mother or father during the first two years of the measurethe NGO said.

According to the report presented yesterday, 261 adult detainees have died in state custody between 2022 and 2024figures presented by Zaira Navas, head of its rule of law unit.

In April, several human rights groups, including Cristosal, had already denounced the deaths of 244 people in state custody between March 27, 2022, and February 29.

These deaths of people deprived of liberty during the state of exception have that high cost, of leaving many children orphaned, because the State failed to fulfill its obligation to guarantee their life, their health.Navas added.

He warned that the dead in prison could be morebut lack of access to official information prevents us from knowing the real figure.

Human rights organizations have criticized the state of emergency policy for violating fundamental rights, but Bukele has refused to repeal it.

The report says that cannot yet be quantified precisely the number of minors who are exposed to abandonment as consequence from the arrest or imprisonment of their parents.

However, Cristosal estimated that at least 62,022 minors under 15 years of age They may have suffered some form of abandonment for this reason.

Meanwhile, the group Socorro Jurídico Humanitario reported that in 28 months of the state of emergency, more than 1,400 minors have been convicted, 40 percent of them without due process.

The state of emergency policy, which allows arrests without a warrant, was approved by Congress at Bukele’s request in response to an escalation of violence that claimed the lives of 87 people between March 25 and 27, 2022. Congress on Tuesday extended the measure, which allowed the arrest of more than 81,000 alleged gang members.