A woman in El Salvador who spent a decade in prison on charges of aggravated homicide after suffering a miscarriage has been released.
The 38-year-old, who has been identified only as Elsy by activists, was freed on Wednesday after serving about a third of her 30-year sentence.
El Salvador has one of the most extreme abortion bans in the world – pregnancy terminations are illegal in cases of rape and incest, when the woman’s life is in danger, or if the foetus is severely deformed.
The Central American country routinely imprisons women who have had accidents during their pregnancy, miscarriages, and also stillbirths - by considering such incidents as abortions.
The Citizen Group for the Decriminalization of Abortion in El Salvador, a campaign group, said the woman was arrested in June 2011 after she said she endured an “obstetric emergency”. Authorities accused her of having an abortion and she was charged with aggravated homicide.
The campaign group said Elsy had been separated from her son for her entire prison term.
Morena Herrera, the organisation’s president, said: “We celebrate Elsy’s release after 10 years. Her erroneous 30-year sentence for aggravated homicide is over. We must continue to fight tirelessly to free those who remain deprived of liberty.”
Salvadoran authorities have not commented on the case or confirmed the release.
El Salvador is a highly conservative country – with the Catholic church holding great political and cultural clout. While abortion is highly restricted in the Central American country, wealthy affluent citizens can fork out for private healthcare services or travel abroad to have their pregnancy terminated.
A campaign titled “Free the 17” was launched by Citizen Group for the Decriminalisation of Abortion in El Salvador last December which calls for 17 women serving time in prison to be freed.
Most of the women who are incarcerated say they were charged after they went through obstetric complications while not in a healthcare setting. Five of these 17 women – including Elsy - have been released from jail since the campaign kicked off, the rights group said.
The Inter-American Court of Human Rights ruled in November that El Salvador had violated the rights of a woman identified as Manuela who was sent to prison for breaching the abortion laws and died while serving her 30-year sentence.
The country is known for human rights violations and was previously branded the deadliest nation outside of a conflict zone due to its high homicide rate.
