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Reuters
Reuters
Politics
Nelson Renteria

In El Salvador's gang crackdown, quotas drive 'arbitrary' arrests of innocents

Juan Carlos Galeas walks at the funeral procession for his brother William, who was detained mid-April and sent to La Esperanza prison until authorities handed over William's dead body to the family in mid-May, in San Salvador, El Salvador, May 13, 2022. Picture taken May 13, 2022. REUTERS/Jose Cabezas

Dozens of innocent people have been apprehended in El Salvador in recent months amid President Nayib Bukele's "war on gangs," after superiors forced officers to meet daily arrest quotas during a state of emergency, five officials told Reuters. 

In March, El Salvador registered 62 murders in a single day, the bloodiest since the end of the country's civil war in 1992. In response, the Legislative Assembly dominated by Bukele's right-leaning populist party declared a state of emergency, suspending citizens' constitutional rights. In the past month and a half, more than 25,000 people have been arrested. 

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