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El Salvador’s state of emergency endangers women and LGBTQ people [1]
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Date: 2023-02
Keiry Molina’s world turned upside down last May when a police officer arrived at her home in San Salvador, the capital of El Salvador.
The 46-year-old trans woman was arrested and taken to a police station, where she discovered that four anonymous tipsters had accused her of extortion and involvement with the country’s notorious criminal gangs.
Molina is a hairdresser, who is well known in the community as an animal rights activist who spent her free time rescuing stray dogs. Her family lives in a poor neighbourhood in Soyapango on the outskirts of the capital, has no ties to any gangs and was shocked by the allegations of extortion, says Molina’s niece Sofía.
Sofía says she barely had time to say goodbye to her aunt before she was taken away. “She was the breadwinner of the family, and she raised my sister and me. Since they took her away nine months ago, we’ve had to find ways to support our grandmother [Keiry’s mother],” Sofía told openDemocracy.
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The initial charges of extortion were eventually changed to "unlawful association”, a crime punishable by up to six years in prison for those who participate in or benefit from gang activities.
Molina was arrested under the state of emergency declared last March by President Nayib Bukele, following a spate of gang-related killings. The aim, according to the government, was to eradicate the main criminal organisations, or maras, in the Central American country – including the notorious Mara Salvatrucha 13 (often abbreviated to MS-13) and Barrio 18.
Key constitutional rights, such as freedom of association, assembly, communication and privacy, were suspended, as was the requirement that police must provide evidence for detaining people.
Trans woman Keiry Molina, who was detained last May under the state of emergency | Courtesy of Keiry Molina’s family
The state of emergency was meant to be temporary, but Congress, which is controlled by the 41-year-old president’s party New Ideas, has voted each month since to extend the decree. It has also passed legislation allowing children as young as 12 to be imprisoned for alleged gang affiliation.
The problem, according to human rights organisations such as Human Rights Watch (HRW) and Salvadoran NGO Cristosal, is that tens of thousands of people have been detained without due process, and the rights of vulnerable and marginalised groups have been trampled on. The enhanced powers granted to law enforcement agencies have also impacted people with no criminal connections, including women, children and members of the LGBTQ community – such as Molina.
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[1] Url:
https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/5050/el-salvador-women-lgbt-human-rights-bukele-gangs-maras/
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