El Salvador Prisoners Tortured and Killed Amid Brutal Gang Crackdown

At least 153 people died in El Salvador's prisons from torture, other violence or neglect since the country began cracking down on street gangs last year, according to a new human-rights investigation.

Nearly half of the cases documented by the Central American nonprofit group Cristosal were either confirmed or suspected to have involved torture, beatings or strangulation, the Guardian reported Monday.

Other victims appeared to have died as a result of being denied medical care or food, with some showing signs of starvation.

None had been convicted of the alleged crimes for which they were arrested under special powers granted by El Salvador's Legislative Assembly in March 2022, Cristosal said.

Four were women and the rest were men.

Survivors of the alleged abuse described being given electric shocks, forced to eat food off the floor without their hands and exposed to untreated epidemics of skin fungus, El País reported.

Authorities have reportedly insisted that all the prison deaths resulted from natural causes and withheld additional information.

The grisly deaths point to brutal punishments meted out by prison guards and officials, Cristosal said, suggesting they could only have taken place with approval from the highest levels of government.

“The massive and systemic violations are now a state policy," Cristosal director Noah Bullock told El País.

"The suspension of rights and militarization is not an exception anymore, but a norm that affects the lives of all Salvadorans.”

President Nayib Bukele launched a "war on gangs" after El Salvador recorded 62 deaths in one day, making it the bloodiest since the country's civil war ended in 1992.

The Legislative Assembly, controlled by Bukele's right-leaning populist party, declared a state of emergency and suspended some constitutional rights, including guaranteed access to defense lawyers.

Bukele touted a drop in murders but within about two months, Reuters reported that dozens of innocent people had been locked up by officers forced to meet daily arrest quotas.

Police denied the imposition of arrest quotas, and Bukele has defended the crackdown, saying, "In such a large operation, there will always be mistakes to correct."

Polls have also shown a majority of Salvadorans approve of the government's offensive against the notorious Barrio 18 and MS-13 gangs, which includes having soldiers patrol gang-ridden areas.

According to official figures, more than 68,000 people have been arrested since the state of emergency was imposed, with more than 5,000 released because prosecutors couldn't prove they were gang members.

Cristosal said the findings in its 107-page report were the result of fieldwork that included digging up mass graves and reviewing autopsy reports.

Investigators also spoke to victims' relatives and neighbors, as well as former inmates.

With The Associated Press