Bukele considers parole for half of prisoners for helping gangs — The Rio Times

El Salvador President Nayib Bukele said the government is considering the possibility of granting conditional early release to approximately half of prisoners for assisting gangs. According to him, those released will remain under supervision and will have to meet specified conditions.

As The Rio Times reports, Bukele announced this on October 13 during a press conference at the presidential palace in San Salvador. He said authorities are assessing the cases of a large number of people who, in his words, are guilty and deserve imprisonment, but for many of them an exception may be made due to the “special conditions” in which the country was living. He did not specify a timeline for implementing such a plan.

Who may be released

Bukele distinguished between gang members and people who assisted them under coercion in areas controlled by the groups. As an example, he cited young people who warned gangs about approaching police. At the same time, he noted that involvement in serious crimes, including helping conceal the body of a murdered person, should be assessed differently.

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According to the president, the state has established criteria depending on the degree of cooperation with gangs. At the same time, he did not specify which body would apply these criteria and make final decisions in each case.

State of emergency and legal objections

The state of emergency to combat gangs in El Salvador has been in force since March 27, 2022, and is extended every month. According to government data, more than 93,162 people have been detained under the emergency regime during this time. Human rights organizations report more than 500 deaths of detainees in custody and over 6,500 complaints, mostly concerning arbitrary arrests.

Ivania Cruz, a lawyer for the human rights organization Unidehc, said that the president cannot release people independently. According to El Faro, Salvadoran legislation provides that only a judge may authorize the release of a detainee. Bukele also said he would like to lift the state of emergency in the future, but did not name specific timeframes.