Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele has announced a plan to potentially release up to half of the 90,000 detainees arrested during a state of emergency aimed at combating gang violence.
Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele recently unveiled a controversial plan that could lead to the conditional early release of up to half of the 90,000 individuals detained under a state of emergency targeting gang activity. This initiative was announced during a televised address on Tuesday night.
The proposed plan aims to focus on freeing prisoners classified as gang collaborators. This broad term encompasses a range of individuals, including those who may have acted as lookouts for gangs or made extortion payments. Bukele stated, “There are many people who have indeed committed crimes, but their crime was collaborating with gangs. 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.”
While specific details of the plan remain unclear, Bukele indicated that authorities would analyze individual cases to determine eligibility for early release, which could potentially affect half of those detained during the ongoing state of emergency.
The state of emergency was initially declared in March 2022 following a surge in violence that resulted in over 60 fatalities in a single day. Originally set for a duration of 30 days, the emergency measure has been extended multiple times, coinciding with a significant decline in the country’s homicide rate. This decline has contributed to making El Salvador a more attractive destination for tourists, albeit 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.
Bukele has consistently defended the necessity of the state of emergency as a means to combat rival gangs, specifically MS-13 and Barrio 18. However, human rights organizations have condemned the emergency declaration, arguing that it has led to widespread arbitrary arrests. These groups have repeatedly called for the measure to be rescinded.
During the state of emergency, human rights organizations have recorded over 6,000 complaints and documented at least 575 deaths of individuals in government custody. Critics argue that the potential release of thousands of prisoners is insufficient to address the injustices stemming from their prolonged imprisonment.
Exiled Salvadoran lawyer Bertha Deleón expressed her concerns on social media platform X, stating, “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.”
In response to the criticism from both national and international human rights groups, Bukele suggested that these organizations should prioritize the victims of gang violence. He also reiterated his intention to eventually end the state of emergency, despite its ongoing implementation.
Government figures indicate that El Salvador’s homicide rate has dramatically decreased 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 an estimated 1.3 per 100,000 in 2025. However, it is important to note that the government has narrowed the definition of homicide to exclude killings by police, murders occurring in prisons, and bodies discovered in unmarked graves.
The developments surrounding Bukele’s plan and the ongoing state of emergency continue to draw attention both domestically and internationally, as the balance between public safety and human rights remains a contentious issue in El Salvador.
According to The Associated Press, the situation in El Salvador reflects broader challenges in addressing gang violence while safeguarding civil liberties.