Prosecution of rights defender in El Salvador raises alarm over abuse under state of emergency - JURIST - News

## Summary
News phtorxp / Pixabay Amnesty International warned on Wednesday that concerns remain over the criminalization of human rights defender Fidel Zavala in El Salvador, urging authorities to drop the unfounded criminal proceedings and to guarantee protection for individuals documenting abuses under the country’s ongoing state of exception. The organization stated that the prosecution of Zavala appears to be part of a broader pattern of intimidation against activists and whistleblowers exposing human rights violations within the penitentiary system. The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) previously urged El Salvador to guarantee due process, judicial oversight, and humane conditions of detention amid the mass arrests carried out under the emergency measures. Recent documentation titled “You have arrived in Hell” by Human Rights Watch and Cristosal shows the ground reality of abuses against detainees in the country’s prison system, including within the high-security Terrorism Confinement Center.

## Article Content
News
phtorxp
/ Pixabay
Amnesty International
warned
on Wednesday that concerns remain over the criminalization of human rights defender Fidel Zavala in El Salvador, urging authorities to drop the unfounded criminal proceedings and to guarantee protection for individuals documenting abuses under the country’s ongoing state of exception.
The
organization
stated that the prosecution of Zavala appears to be part of a broader pattern of intimidation against activists and whistleblowers exposing human rights violations within the penitentiary system.
In the past, a
coalition
of 52 international organizations denounced the persecution of Zavala after
his arrest in 2024
, arguing that the charges against him sent a “dangerous message” to others documenting abuses in detention facilities. The groups warned that the criminal proceedings risk discouraging reporting of violations at a time when transparency regarding prison conditions is already limited.
The concerns arise in the context of El Salvador’s
state of emergency
, which was implemented in March 2022 as part of the government’s anti-gang strategy. Under the emergency regime, authorities have suspended
certain
constitutional protections and expanded powers of arrest and detention.
Recent reports have raised additional alarms about the treatment of detainees. The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR)
previously urged
El Salvador to guarantee due process, judicial oversight, and humane conditions of detention amid the mass arrests carried out under the emergency measures. Amnesty International also
previously
called on Salvadoran authorities to ensure that the justice system is not used to silence defenders who report abuses.
Recent
documentation
titled “You have arrived in Hell” by Human Rights Watch and Cristosal shows the ground reality of abuses against detainees in the country’s prison system, including within the high-security Terrorism Confinement Center. The report described cases of beatings, sexual violence, denial of medical care, and degrading treatment of prisoners, particularly migrants transferred from other countries. Beyond physical abuse, the detainees were also exposed to extremely psychologically distressing conditions, held in prisons
without any communication with their families or legal representation, and often without knowing the reason behind their detention
.
Detainees were
denied basic sanitation, subjected to inhumane living conditions, and deprived of the most basic necessities such as water.

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## Expert Analysis

### Merits
N/A

### Areas for Consideration
- The groups warned that the criminal proceedings risk discouraging reporting of violations at a time when transparency regarding prison conditions is already limited.

### Implications
N/A

### Expert Commentary
This article covers human, rights, abuses topics. Areas of concern are also raised. Readability: Flesch-Kincaid grade 0.0. Word count: 358.