Children victimized in El Salvador's anti-gang crackdown, rights group alleges

Thousands of poverty-stricken children in El Salvador have suffered arbitrary detention, torture and other abuse as part of President Nayib Bukele’s “war on gangs,” Human Rights Watch said in a report released Tuesday. “Children from vulnerable communities in El Salvador are bearing the brunt of the government's indiscriminate security policies,” Juanita Goebertus, the group's director for the Americas, said in a statement.

But Human Rights Watch noted that “a lack of transparency and reports of data manipulation” have made it hard to assess the true extent of the reduction. Bukele, who has championed law enforcement's dragnets and the construction of more prisons, has taken full credit for the reduced homicide rate, though it had begun to drop even before he took office in 2019. He has denied accusations of making deals with gangs to accept truces in exchange for benefits for their members in prison.

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More than 60 children detained, beaten and tortured in El Salvador, rights group saysEl Salvador's president is showing no signs of slowing his crackdown on gangs as he begins his second term in office. The government released clips and photos of a massive operation that put thousands of suspected criminals behind bars in the country's 'mega prison.
Source: NBCNews - 🏆 10. / 86 Read more »