The United Nations Panel of Experts expressed concern about the consequences of the state of emergency declared over a year ago in El Salvador and warned the government of Naiba Bukele that “You cannot trample on the right to a fair trial in the name of public safety.”

Bukele promoted this measure as a result outbreak of gang violence, This led to special powers for the security forces and a new strategy that El Salvador’s president called a success despite international criticism.

In March, local authorities were upgraded to more than 67,000 arrested for their alleged gang membership, but experts insisted that “many” of these detentions were arbitrary and some even constituted “short-term enforced disappearances”.

United Nations rapporteurs on the independence of judges and lawyers, on the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms in the fight against terrorism, and on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions they fear that due process is also not guaranteed.

“A prolonged state of emergency, together with legislation allowing for increased surveillance, broader prosecutions, and faster determination of guilt and sentencing, means the risk of mass violations of the right to a fair trial”, they noticed.

In this sense, they questioned whether certain views held in groups of up to 500 people or that public attorneys are only given a few minutes to present their arguments. Such “mass” meetings undermine, according to experts, the right to defense and the presumption of innocence of detainees.