El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele is facing criticism by rights groups for releasing a shocking image of jailed gang members stripped down to their underwear and pressed together as part of the punishment for an outbreak of violence.
Between Friday and Sunday, (April 24 and 27), criminal gang members took advantage of the lockdown imposed due to the coronavirus pandemic and killed 50 people in a violent outbreak between Mara Salvatrucha and 18th Street gang.
The president said that most of the killing orders came from the prison and therefore ordered 24x7 lockdown for the imprisoned gang members.
The startling image was released over the weekend from the Twitter account of President Bukele’s office.
El altísimo número de homicidios durante muchos años nos colocó como uno de los países más peligrosos del mundo. No vamos a permitir que esto vuelva a suceder. #PlanControlTerritorial pic.twitter.com/E8U4YeUwsJ
— Casa Presidencial (@PresidenciaSV) April 27, 2020
The depicted punishment stands in contrast to social-distancing measures around the world, including an obligatory home quarantine in El Salvador to stop the new coronavirus spreading.
Bukele was quoted as saying in a Reuters report, “The police and the armed forces must prioritise safeguarding their lives, those of their companions and honest citizens. The use of lethal weapons is authorised in self-defence or defence of lives of Salvadoreans.”
He also ordered to place members of gangs sealed in steel box-like cells.
Jose Miguel Vivanco, the executive director of Human Rights Watch for the Americas, was quoted in a Reuters report as saying El Salvador risked sliding into autocracy without reprobation from global powers.
“The only way to stop this is to have a strong reaction by the international community,” he added.
