Speaking at a graduation ceremony for young police officers and soldiers, President Nayib Bukele said that if the gangs “unleash a wave of crime, we will cut off food in prisons.” “There are rumors that (gangs) want to start taking revenge on random, honest people,” Bukele said. “If they do that, there will not be a single meal in prison. I swear to God that they will not eat a grain of rice, and let’s see how long they will last “. “They have to stay calm and let themselves be arrested. “At least inside they will continue to live and have two meals a day,” Bukele said. Earlier, Bukele had ordered food for gang members held in Salvador prisons to be reduced to two meals a day, confiscated prisoners’ mattresses, and posted a video of detainees frogging corridors and stairs. Following a wave of homicides in late March, Bukele declared a state of emergency that suspended some constitutional rights and mobilized some 6,000 gang members. The president also ordered the construction of a new high-security prison to accommodate 20,000 inmates. The move has drawn criticism from human rights groups in El Salvador and abroad, who warn that the suspension of fundamental rights could open the door to human rights abuses. The El Salvador’s human rights prosecutor’s office said it had received 67 human rights complaints, including 33 of arbitrary arrests. “We are deeply concerned about the series of measures recently introduced in El Salvador in response to the rise in gang killings,” said Liz Throssell, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. Throssell said “5,747 people have been detained without an arrest warrant and some are said to have been subjected to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment.” The story goes on Boukele, as usual, rejected the criticism. “I do not care what international organizations say. “Let them come here and protect our people,” he said. “They can take their gang members if they want; we will give them all.” El Salvador’s Congress has also increased the sentences for crimes committed by gang members. The country’s notorious street gangs control virtually many neighborhoods in the capital. The state of emergency restricts the freedom of association, the right to information about rights when arrested and access to a lawyer. The government also extended to 72 days from 72 hours the time one can be detained without charge and allowed authorities to monitor suspects’ communications without the judge’s approval. Police and soldiers have already cordoned off neighborhoods, searching house-to-house for gang members and checking who enters and leaves areas. In March, Bukele posted a video showing guards with sticks forcing detainees to walk, run and even go downstairs with their hands behind their necks or backs. At one point, a detainee in handcuffs fell down a ladder as a guard forced him to run down. The prisoner groaned and then had to get up to keep running. The detainees stripped their underwear and their mattresses were removed. Bukele is extremely popular. He entered a political vacuum left by discredited traditional parties from the left and the right.
