EL Salvador witnesses statewide emergency by the legislative assembly after recording 62 homicides by organized gang members
The president of the legislative assembly declared a state of emergency on Sunday, 27th March 2022 in El Salvador. The decision was executed due to the spike in homicidal violence. The killings were all connected back to organized crimes by illicit gang members.
The country witnessed a curb on civil liberties and relaxation of detainment procedures.El Salvador, officially known as the Republic of El Salvador, observed a spike in gang-related killings in the past three days. The official reports declared 62 homicides.
The spike in deaths was one that has was not been witnessed in a very long time. The officials have increased security in the state. They called for ultra-vigilance for law and arrest procedures. The wave of gang killings was recorded as one of the worst ones in the country’s history. In just two days, dozens were reported dead.
The streets have been terrorized by gang members while the country faced unrest. The officials have asked the citizens to remain calm. They stated that the countrymen should contribute to building a peaceful environment.
On Sunday, the president of El Salvador Nayib Bukele finally sent for approval a request for sanctioning a statewide emergency. The decree by the legislative assembly declared “an emergency regime throughout the national territory derived from serious disturbances to public order by criminal groups.”
The president of the legislative assembly released an official statement for the same. “We approve the #emergencyregime that will allow our Government to protect the lives of Salvadorans and confront criminality head-on.”, he tweeted.
The official reports were recorded by the state and released over mainstream media. 62 homicides were recorded on Saturday. 12 homicides were recorded in the Central department of La Libertad. In the capital San Salvador, 9 were recorded.
The western department of Ahuachapan also recorded 9 homicides. All the figures were officially released by the state. The state police also made several arrests over the tenure of homicidal violence. They arrested Mara Salvatrucha leaders.
The arrest took place during the wee hours of Sunday. The Country’s National Civil Police responded to the situation by tweeting, “We will not back down in this war against gangs, we will not rest until the criminals responsible for these acts are captured and brought to justice.”
The sanction for the state of emergency curtailed the inviolability of correspondence and communications, free assembly and sanctions detainment without warrants. The state emergency can stretch up to as long as 30 days.
Bukele constantly stated his worry observing the spike in homicidal killings. The same was expressed in a tweet uploaded by Ernesto Castro, president of Congress. They shared their disappointment over the rise in violence after having worked so hard to bring the numbers down. Bukele also stated that he wanted to investigate the depths of the issue.
He wanted to find out the origin and source of finance for the killings. He came into power in the year 2019. Since then, he made promised to battle crimes by organized gangs. Furthermore, he also stated that he would increase security in the state to combat the same.
The state has asked the prosecutor’s office to be ultra-vigilant with the gang member cases it proceeds. The president also kept a lookout for judges who favoured criminals. The country also saw a rise in homicidal killings in November of 2021. The state reported 45 deaths in three days. There were 1,140 killings in the year 2021. The year 2020 witnessed 1,341 killings.
Edited by Subbuthai Padma
Published by Iram Rizvi
