El Salvador's President Bukele Proposes Early Release Plan for Prisoners

<p>Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele has announced a plan that could allow the conditional early release of up to half of those detained under a state of emergency. This state of emergency has been in effect for over four and a half years, during which authorities arrested more than 90,000 individuals as part of efforts to reduce violent gang activity.</p><p>Bukele's plan, revealed on Tuesday night, aims to focus on freeing prisoners identified as gang collaborators. This term can encompass a range of individuals, including those who acted as lookouts for gangs or made extortion payments.</p><p>"There are many people who have indeed committed crimes, but their crime was collaborating with gangs," Bukele stated. "They deserve to be in jail, but we come from a country where collaborating with gangs wasn’t so unusual, and if we were to arrest everyone who collaborated with gangs, we would have to arrest 20% of the population."</p><p>While specific details were not provided, the president indicated that authorities would analyze cases to determine eligibility for early release, which could affect half of the individuals detained during the state of emergency.</p><p>The state of emergency was declared in March 2022 following a surge in violence that resulted in over 60 deaths in a single day. Initially imposed for 30 days, the measure has been extended multiple times.</p><p>Since the declaration, the country has seen a significant decline in its homicide rate, which has contributed to making El Salvador a more attractive destination for tourism. However, this has come at the cost of suspending or restricting certain constitutional protections, including the right to be informed of the reasons for detention, access to legal counsel, and visitation rights.</p><p>Bukele has argued that the emergency measures were necessary to control rival gangs MS-13 and Barrio 18. However, human rights organizations have condemned the emergency declaration, claiming it has led to widespread arbitrary arrests and have called for its repeal.</p><p>These organizations have reported over 6,000 complaints during the emergency and documented at least 575 deaths of individuals in government custody.</p><p>Critics argue that the potential release of thousands of prisoners does not adequately address the harm caused by their prolonged imprisonment. Exiled Salvadoran lawyer Bertha Deleón stated on X that, "The victims of arbitrary detentions don’t just deserve to recover their freedom, but they also deserve to be compensated for the harms caused by the State of El Salvador: the physical and mental harm that imprisonment causes, family suffering, loss of work or studies, reputational damage, among others."</p><p>Bukele has dismissed the criticism from national and international human rights groups, suggesting they should support the victims of gang violence instead. He also defended the continued need for the state of emergency while expressing a desire to end it in the future.</p><p>According to government figures, El Salvador's homicide rate has decreased significantly over the past decade, including during Bukele's presidency. The rate fell from a peak of over 100 murders per 100,000 residents in 2015 to 1.3 per 100,000 in 2025. However, the government has adjusted the definition of homicide to exclude killings by police, murders in prisons, and bodies found in unmarked graves.</p><p><i>The Associated Press contributed to this report.</i></p>