San Salvador, El Salvador — The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights called on the government of El Salvador to protect three Salvadoran men deported by the United States in a resolution published Tuesday, saying they have been detained without access to their lawyers or relatives since their arrival.
The Salvadoran government said in the case that William Alexander Martinez Ruano, 21, and Jose Osmin Santos Robles, 41, were being held in a Santa Ana prison, and a third, Brandon Bladimir Cigarran Cruz, 22, who the government said was an active member of the Mara Salvatrucha gang, was being detained in the country. New gang prison Since March.
This has been a common problem for the nearly 90,000 people who have been arrested under it Emergency powers It was awarded to President Nayib Bukele in March 2022 to fight powerful street gangs in the country.
Relatives and lawyers filed habeas corpus petitions in El Salvador on behalf of the men, and the NGO Coalition for Human Rights and Democracy asked the Commission on Human Rights to take protective measures.
The Commission, an arm of the regional Organization of American States, said it decided to approve the request due to “a serious risk to their rights to subsistence and personal well-being.” The Commission grants such protection in cases to prevent irreparable harm.
El Salvador responded to the committee regarding the status of the men, but the committee said the government did not deny that the men were being held incommunicado despite a specific request for information about their possibility of visiting relatives and lawyers. The country is supposed to follow the committee’s instructions and submit its reports, but El Salvador has given no indication that it is willing to comply with the demands.
The committee noted that it granted protection measures in September to two Salvadoran lawyers, Ruth Lopez and Enrique Anayagovernment critics who have been arrested and detained without contact.
People detained in El Salvador under the ongoing state of emergency generally have no contact with their relatives or lawyers, said lawyer Jaime Magaña of the Wings for Freedom movement, who does not represent any of the detainees. “It’s something (the Commission) has been saying since the start of the state of emergency,” which began in March 2022, he said.
The Government of El Salvador told the Committee that it should avoid use by persons with criminal histories.
Earlier this year, the Trump administration It sent over 250 Venezuelan men He was accused of belonging to Tren de Aragua gang To be imprisoned in El Salvador. In July, They were released to Venezuela In exchange for the release of 10 Americans detained by Venezuela.