Thanks to U.S. intransigence, a Salvadoran crisis repeats itself

[Judi Lynn]

1. El Salvador lines up semi-naked gang members for grim prison photos

Reuters

April 28, 2020 · 9:00 AM EDT



Inmates are show at Izalco jail during a 24-hour lockdown ordered by El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele, photograph released to Reuters by the El Salvador Presidency on April 25, 2020.

Credit:
El Salvador Presidency/Handout via Reuters

The images of hundreds of jailed gang members stripped to their underwear and pressed together in formation published over the weekend on the Twitter account of El Salvadorian President Nayib Bukele's office were widely condemed by human rights groups and stood in contrast to social-distancing measures around the world.

They were followed by orders from Bukele to place members of gangs, including the notorious MS-13, in sealed, steel box-like cells and permission to use lethal force against gang members on the streets.

Bukele's latest action follows controversy over his disregard for Supreme Court rulings that he should uphold the constitution and his recent use of the military to intimidate Congress.



Gang members imprisoned at Izalco jail during a 24-hour lockdown.

Credit:
El Salvador Presidency/Handout via Reuters

Jose Miguel Vivanco, the executive director of Human Rights Watch for the Americas, said El Salvador risked sliding into autocracy without reprobation from global powers.

More:
https://www.pri.org/stories/2020-04-28/el-salvador-lines-semi-naked-gang-members-grim-prison-photos

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Harrowing photos show prisoners stacked together as punishment for a spate of violence in El Salvador
James Pasley Apr 30, 2020, 1:26 AM

The office of Nayib Bukele, the president of El Salvador, released photos this week showing the brutal conditions hundreds of prisoners have been put in — stripped and stacked together — after several days of violence leading to more than 20 deaths.

The photos were released to try to intimidate or humiliate the captives after intelligence warned the deaths outside prisons had been ordered by imprisoned gang leaders. But human-rights groups fear for the prisoners.

Erika Guevara, Amnesty International's director for the Americas, told Reuters: "We view these photos taken of people deprived of their liberty in the prisons with great concern; they are scenes where people are brought together in prison yards in a humiliating, demeaning manner."

More:
https://www.insider.com/harrowing-photos-show-prisoners-stacked-together-in-el-salvador-2020-4

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El Salvador's jails: Where social distancing is impossible
27 April 2020

More:
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-52386404