Civic space conditions continue to worsen under the state of emergency in El Salvador

Introduction

Since his first term in 2019, President Nayib Bukele has spearheaded a ruthless crackdown on organised crime groups. He has also taken drastic steps to target his critics and consolidate power by adopting measures that restrict citizens’ fundamental freedoms. In December 2023, Amnesty International published a report highlighting an increase in the risk faced by civil society in general: “The patterns observed suggest that the rollback of civic space and subsequent human rights violations are the result of deliberate and coordinated actions by the principal state authorities with the aim of silencing critical voices and managing societal discontent through repressive tactics.”

In this context, Salvadoran citizens will vote in general elections on 4th February 2024 and municipal elections on 3rd March 2024. According to experts, Nayib Bukele is seeking a significant presidential mandate, a second five-year term, and aims to expand the New Ideas party’s control in El Salvador’s legislature. As reported by Human Rights Watch in its latest annual report, “President Nayib Bukele and his majority in the Legislative Assembly have systematically dismantled democratic checks and balances.”

Expression

Harassment against photojournalist

On 28th January 2024, public officials from the Presidential Food Programme (Programa Presidencial de Apoyo Alimentario) threatened and forcibly restrained photojournalist Jéssica Orellana while she was photographing food boxes on the street in Santo Tomas, San Salvador. According to the Association of Journalists of El Salvador (APES), the public officials demanded that she delete the photographs she had taken. When Orellana refused, they informed her she could not leave the premises. The photojournalist reported that she attempted to leave to avoid a confrontation, but a public official restrained her by grabbing her camera strap, preventing her from leaving. Additionally, one public official threatened to sue her if she published photos of them.

A journalist intimidated

On 5th January 2024, the Mayor of El Refugio municipality in Ahuachapán and a member of the ruling Nuevas Ideas party, Darwin Regalado, intimidated a woman journalist investigating alleged irregularities by his administration. Following a council session, the journalist was interviewing Wilfredo Barrientos, a councillor and former mayor, when Mayor Regalado passed twice in a private pickup truck driven by the municipal syndic, photographing the woman journalist and the establishment. When questioned about why he had photographed her, Regalado stated, “Because you intruded on the town hall,” referring to the photos she had taken earlier. Shortly after, four close-up photos of the journalist were posted on Regalado’s Facebook, with a caption accusing her of accepting money to write articles against him and assaulting the town hall's information officer despite there having been no interaction between them. A few minutes later, the post was deleted.

Digital violence targets journalists in El Salvador

Digital violence is a primary threat facing journalists in El Salvador. According to the APES report on gender-based digital violence against women journalists, at least 655 instances of insults directed at women and 3402 at men were recorded between October 2023 and 10th January 2024, averaging around 40 insults per day solely on the social network “X”.

Similarly, online attacks against women journalists often involve elements of sexual violence, misogyny, and lesbophobia. These attacks are aimed at undermining the credibility of journalists’ work. YouTube has emerged as the platform with the highest number of videos containing attacks against journalists, followed by Facebook, with a notable rise in attacks on TikTok. These incidents are expected to escalate leading up to the 2024 general elections, as evidenced by a significant increase in attacks during the first ten days of January.

Peaceful Assembly

Peaceful demonstrations against arbitrary detentions

On 18th November 2023, around 300 people took to the streets to denounce arbitrary detentions and other human rights violations committed under the current state of emergency in El Salvador. This protest was organised by the Movement of Victims of the Regime in El Salvador (MOVIR) and the Salvadoran Left Movement (Movimiento Izquierda Salvadoreña). Protesters gathered at the Constitution Monument in the capital city and attempted to march near the hotel where the contestants taking part in the Miss Universe beauty pageant were staying. However, the anti-riot police and military officials prevented them from moving forward by blocking the relevant roads. As of October 2023, human rights organisations have recorded at least 327 enforced disappearances.

On 22nd January 2024, hundreds of people marched to denounce the inhuman conditions experienced by people deprived of liberty who are not linked to organised crime. The protesters demonstrated at the National Assembly and presented a non-legislative proposal protecting the right to health in prison.

Rally against Nayib Bukele’s administration

On 15th January 2024, around 500 people marched in San Salvador to commemorate the anniversary of the signing of the country’s 1992 Peace Accords. They also protested President Nayib Bukele's re-election bid, alleging it violates the Constitution, and condemned the arbitrary detentions under the state of emergency. The protest marked the 32nd anniversary of the end of El Salvador's civil war.

Teachers receive threats after a protest to demand salary review denounce non-compliance with salary review obligation

On 26th January 2024, dozens of teachers took to the streets to demand that the Ministry of Education adhere to the salary review schedule mandated by Article 33 of the Teachers’ Career Law, which requires salary adjustments every three years. Despite the law stipulating a salary review to take place in 2023 and repeated teacher requests, the Ministry has not complied, with the last adjustment having been carried out in 2019. The protest proceeded peacefully from the Metropolitan Cathedral of San Salvador to the Ministry building.

Following this, on 29th January, Daniel Rodríguez, Secretary General of the Union of Teachers of Public Education of El Salvador (SIMEDUCO), reported receiving complaints about alleged threats against teachers who participated in the protest.

Association

Provisional arrest order against HRD

On 22nd December 2023, an examining judge in San Francisco Gotera, the capital of the Morazán department, issued arrest warrants against HRD Rubén Ignacio Zamora Rivas and eight other former deputies of the Legislative Assembly. One month later, on 31st January 2024, the provisional arrest order was revoked.

Zamora Rivas has been seeking justice for the massacre in El Mozote for decades, and he is also a vocal critic of the Bukele administration. According to Human Rights Watch, the former deputies have been accused of “obstruction of justice”, which carries a prison sentence of between six months and six years, for allegedly facilitating the approval of El Salvador’s Amnesty Law in 1993. This law prevented the victims of serious human rights violations from obtaining justice and redressing abuses committed during the armed conflict in the country (1980–1992), including the El Mozote massacre, one of the largest mass murder cases in modern Latin American history. In 2016, El Salvador’s Supreme Court overturned it.

Civil society organisations have called on the Salvadoran government to immediately dismiss the charges and cease the political persecution of Zamora Rivas and other critics of the government.

Freedom of association under pressure

According to the human rights organisation Cristosal, over the past four years, the environment for HRDs in the country has been the most challenging since the signing of the Peace Accords in 1992. Analysing the experiences of 71 CSOs, the organisation identified several patterns of violations, such as administrative barriers to register and operate CSOs, digital harassment and threats of closure. These violations were mainly committed by public officials.

A similar report was published in December 2023 by the Salvadoran Network of Women Human Rights Defenders and the Mesoamerican Initiative of Women Human Rights Defenders. The report documents 1,040 incidents against women HRDs from 2021 to 2022, with 59 per cent occurring in March, coinciding with International Women’s Day. This data indicates a repressive pattern when defending women’s rights in El Salvador.