El Salvador: Bukele has imposed a military siege on a city to persecute a group of gang members

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More than 5,000 soldiers supported by around 500 policemens closed a municipality in northern El Salvador on Wednesday to persecute a group of gang members who authorities hold responsible for the murder of a national police officer.

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In his official Twitter account, President Nayib Bukele reported on the uniforms’ displacement to the municipality of Nueva Concepción, “in search of those responsible for the murder and the entire structure of gang members and associates still hiding in that place”.

“They will pay dearly for the assassination of our hero,” added the president.

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Bukele said violent deaths like that of the National Police officer are proof of necessity continue with the derogation regime in force since March 2022 persecute the maras or gangs, which the authorities accuse of most of the crimes committed in the Central American country.

Soldiers deployed in Nueva Concepción, Chalatenango, north of San Salvador.  photo by AFP

Soldiers deployed in Nueva Concepción, Chalatenango, north of San Salvador. photo by AFP

Enter and exit

Soldier-backed police units took control of the access road to Nueva Concepción, located 74 kilometers north of San Salvador, where they recorded people entering or leaving location to identify and neutralize gang members.

Human rights organizations they reported repeated violations and abuses of the security forces and in prisons under the state of emergency, which suspends several constitutional rights such as that of a person to be duly informed of his rights and the reasons for his detention, as well as to have the assistance of a lawyer.

Moreover, extends pre-trial detention from 72 hours to 15 days and allows authorities to take action on the correspondence and mobile phones of those they deem suspicious.

According to official data, more than 68,500 alleged gang members or collaborators They have been caught since March last year, of which more than 90% are in custody ordered by a judge, the majority for the crime of illegal grouping. Meanwhile, more than 5,000 detainees have been released because they could not be connected to these criminal structures.

More than 5,000 soldiers supported by about 500 police officers shut down a municipality in northern El Salvador on Wednesday.  photo by AFP

More than 5,000 soldiers supported by about 500 police officers shut down a municipality in northern El Salvador on Wednesday. photo by AFP

Other cases

Until May 10, the non-governmental organization Humanitarian Legal Aid registered the names of 114 prisoners in prisons that he would die in several hospitals obviously homicide or lack of medical care.

According to this organization, 92% of the deceased did not belong to gangs and were victims of other prisoners, guards, police and military. There are no official reports of those deaths.

This It’s security fence four established by the Salvadoran government under the exceptional regime. The first was in Comasagua on October 2, 2022, when more than 2,000 soldiers supported by specialized police teams were deployed to persecute members of the Mara Salvatrucha gang after they killed a farmer.

Then on December 3, 2022 8,500 members of the armed forces and 1,500 police officers were deployed to close down the Soyapango commune on the outskirts of the capital in order to persecute a member of the gangs operating in the area.

On the 24th of the same month, Bukele ordered the deployment of 1,000 soldiers and 130 policemen to the Tutunichapa community and on the same day, 1,000 soldiers and 100 policemen surrounded the community of La Granjita, in this capital, known as a major drug trafficking area . in the capital.

The military and police remain in Soyapango and in Tutunichapa and La Granjita.

Source: Clarin

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