At least 18 people have died in Salvadoran police custody since the Central American country introduced a controversial state of emergency to combat gangs two months ago, according to an investigation presented Thursday by Amnesty International.
President Nayib Bukele's government declared an emergency regime at the end of March after a historic rise in homicides. [L3N2VU0BN], limiting constitutional rights and provoking criticism from human rights organizations.
London-based Amnesty accused the Salvadoran authorities of committing "massive human rights violations" in the gang crackdown, including arbitrary arrests, violations of due process, torture and mistreatment.
"As of May 28, at least 18 people died under police custody during the state of emergency. Given the precarious prison conditions, there is a well-founded fear that the number of fatalities could increase in the following days," Amnesty said in a statement.
The figures come from the Central American non-profit organization Cristosal, which said all those who had died had been males. Some had died due to lack of timely medical attention and others had shown signs of suffering aggression, such as bruises, it said.
In its report, Amnesty also pointed to mass hearings of up to 500 detainees.
El Salvador's presidency, the justice and security ministry, the police and the army did not immediately respond to requests for comment from Reuters about the content of Amnesty's report.
In mid-May, Reuters reported that, in the midst of the state of emergency, police forces had detained dozens of innocent people and accused them of belonging to gangs to meet arrest quotas. The report cited five officials. [L5N2X55DT]
Since March 27, the police and the army have arrested more than 36,000 people accused of belonging to gangs, including 1,190 minors, according to official figures.
Gangs thrived during El Salvador's civil war of 1979 to 1992 then spread throughout Central America and into part of Mexico.
In El Salvador, authorities estimate that more than 70,000 people make up the Mara Salvatrucha gang, its rival Barrio 18, and smaller gangs.
Multiple surveys show that 70% of Salvadorans support the government's current measures to reduce gang crime.
(Reporting by Nelson Renteria; Writing by Isabel Woodford; Editing by Bradley Perrett)
