Against the backdrop of President Nayib Bukele’s official visit to the White House on 14 April, Amnesty International released a public statement warning of the deepening human rights crisis in El Salvador and the complicit stance now taken by the United States by partaking in repressive practices that violate international law.
In the light of the recent arbitrary expulsion of Venezuelan nationals from the United States to CECOT, a Salvadoran mega prison, which has not only worsened the human rights situation in El Salvador, but also sets an alarming precedent of repressive cooperation between governments leading to the enforced disappearance of 261 individuals, Ana Piquer, Americas director at Amnesty International, said:
El Salvador is implementing a systematic state policy of massive and arbitrary deprivation of liberty. (…) Attempts to export this policy to the situation of Venezuelan migrants and refugees in the United States highlights the lack of protection and the risk that hundreds of thousands of people now face of having their human rights violated by not one, not two, but three different states.
Ana Piquer, Americas director at Amnesty International
“El Salvador is implementing a systematic state policy of massive and arbitrary deprivation of liberty. After three years, more than 85,000 individuals remain behind bars without sufficient admissible evidence, the victims of a judicial system now transformed into a tool for collective punishment and widespread repression. Attempts to export this policy to the situation of Venezuelan migrants and refugees in the United States highlights the lack of protection and the risk that hundreds of thousands of people now face of having their human rights violated by not one, not two, but three different states.
Enforced disappearance into El Salvador’s CECOT
“This repressive cooperation has now led to the enforced disappearance of more than 200 Venezuelan nationals arbitrarily deported to El Salvador’s CECOT. This situation further entrenches the vulnerability of the victims, who have been deliberately deprived of their right to a defence, to due process and contact with their relatives and lawyers, causing deep distress to both those detained and their families. Cooperation between states must be centred on improving the living conditions of the population, not on dismantling their human rights.”
Amnesty International called on the Salvadoran and US authorities to bring an immediate end to these actions, ensure full respect for human rights, restore due process, guarantee the right to asylum and the principle of non-refoulement, and effectively protect all detainees from torture, incommunicado detention and enforced disappearance.
We remind the authorities in El Salvador and the United States of America that the rights to freedom, a fair trial, asylum, legal defence and protection against torture and enforced disappearance are not privileges, but rather obligations that their governments must uphold at all times. Security cannot be built on the ashes of justice, nor can models that replace the violence of criminal organizations with institutional violence be considered a success
Ana Piquer, Americas director at Amnesty International
Piquer concluded: “We remind the authorities in El Salvador and the United States of America that the rights to freedom, a fair trial, asylum, legal defence and protection against torture and enforced disappearance are not privileges, but rather obligations that their governments must uphold at all times. Security cannot be built on the ashes of justice, nor can models that replace the violence of criminal organizations with institutional violence be considered a success.“
President Trump’s mass deportation campaign targets millions of immigrants and people seeking safety.
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The US government has an obligation under international law to ensure that its laws, policies, and practices do not place immigrants and people seeking safety at an increased risk of human rights abuses.
Header image: CECOT handout
