SAN SALVADOR, March 28 (NNN-EFE) — The Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele ordered the isolation of gang members in prisons after the beginning of an exceptional regime in the country that suspends constitutional guarantees, such as defense in case of arrest, to control the escalation of homicides.
Bukele ordered the general director of Penal Centers, Osiris Luna, to “Decree maximum emergency again in all security and maximum security prisons” so that they are “all cells closed 24/7″.
“Message to the gangs: because of your actions, now your ‘homeboys’ won’t be able to see a ray of sunshine,” he added.
The order comes after Congress, without studying or discussing the initiative requested by Bukele, approved this Sunday morning to apply an exception regime in the face of the “excessive increase” in murders, which turned Saturday, March 26, into the deadliest day in recent Salvadoran history, with 62 homicides.
To find a similar figure, you have to go back to August 2015, when 51 people were murdered in a single day.
“I have sanctioned (signed) and published in the Official Gazette the decree of EXCEPTION REGIME, which enters into force this very day and will be valid for 30 days”, the president published Sunday on Twitter.
Bukele assured that “the measures to be taken will be implemented by the relevant institutions and announced only when necessary.”
“For the vast majority of people, life goes on as normal. God bless us all,” he added.
The president affirmed that “religious services, sporting events, commerce, studies, etc., can continue to be carried out normally. Unless you are a gang member or the authorities consider you suspicious.”
“However, there will be some targeted and temporary closures in some areas,” Bukele said.
The rights suspended by Congress are the freedom of assembly and association, the right to defense and the inviolability of correspondence.
The prohibition of the intervention of telecommunications without judicial authorization was also suspended and the period of administrative detention was extended to 15 days, when it is normally 72 hours.
The decree that gives life to this regime indicates that the competent authorities to apply the measures are the Ministry of Security, the National Civil Police and the Ministry of Defense.
The document does not indicate whether or not the Armed Forces will have prerogatives such as intervening in telecommunications.
Meanwhile, the Police have increased searches in areas controlled by gangs, according to their posts on social networks.
After Bukele’s order on the isolation of imprisoned gang members, the general director of Penal Centers, Osiris Luna, responded: “the order is carried out immediately, these criminals will NOT see the light of day.”
In previous waves of violence, Bukele ordered the same measure, which has affected, according to reports from humanitarian organizations, inmates who do not belong to the gangs.
Luna is one of two officials sanctioned by the US Treasury Department for allegedly facilitating and organizing “several secret meetings with the participation of imprisoned gang leaders.”
“These meetings were part of efforts by the Government of El Salvador to negotiate a secret truce with gang leaders,” the US said in a statement last December.
El Salvador recorded in 2015 the bloodiest year of its post-war period and ranked as the most violent country in the world, although since then the murder figures began to gradually decrease.
The fall was accentuated with the arrival of Bukele to the Government in June 2019 and the president attributed this to his so-called Territorial Control Plan, the details of which are kept secret.
The current crime crisis occurs at a time when the Government has more than 16,000 soldiers in security work, more than 22,000 members of the Police and also has the unconditional support of Parliament, which approved 109 million dollars for the aforementioned security plan.
He also has magistrates in the Supreme Court of Justice and the attorney general, Rodolfo Delgado, who have been close to his management. — NNN-EFE
