El Salvador Gang Crackdown Raises Alarm at UN Human Rights Office

El Salvador has deployed police and military forces in some areas to conduct a gang crackdown, but there have been reports on the use of "excessive" force by authorities.

In a statement released on Tuesday, Liz Throssell, spokeswoman for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), said police and military officers deployed to gang strongholds in El Salvador under a state of emergency had resorted to "unnecessary and excessive use of force."

Throssell said "more than 5,747" suspected gang members had been detained without an arrest warrant since the state of emergency was adopted in late March, Al Jazeera reported.

She noted that some have also been "subjected to alleged cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment." Throssell said they recognize the challenges presented by gang violence in El Salvador and the State's duty to ensure security and justice. However, she noted that it must be done in compliance with international human rights law.

On March 27, El Salvador's parliament has approved a "state of exception" in light of more than 80-weekend killings. The government has pinned the blame on criminal gangs. In a single day, 62 people were killed, which was reportedly the highest one-day tally in decades.

El Salvador State of Emergency

In declaring the state of emergency, El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele said the country had a new spike in homicides, an issue they "had worked so hard to reduce."

Bukele blamed it on the Mara Salvatrucha gang, also known as MS-13. This week, the president noted that 6,000 suspected gang members had been arrested since the order came into force.

Bukele insisted that the detainees were all gang members and would not be released, according to The Guardian News report.

Police forces claim to have captured the MS-13 leaders who ordered the killings. However, there is growing evidence that ordinary people who live or work in gang-operated areas have also been arbitrarily arrested.

Thirty-three-year-old Carmen Rodriguez said she does not know why her husband, brother, and nephew were arrested a week ago while unloading a truck. When they asked the police why they were taking them, Rodriguez noted that "they just insulted us."

UN Human Rights on El Salvador's Gang Crackdown

In a statement, Tamara Taraciuk Broner, acting Americas director at Human Rights Watch, said Bukele's government should take serious and rights-respecting steps to address gang violence in El Salvador.

Broner noted that instead of protecting Salvadorians, the broad state of emergency becomes a "recipe for disaster that puts their rights at risk."

The Human Rights Watch said El Salvador has virtually no independent institutions left as a check on executive power.

According to the group, the pro-Bukele majority in the Legislative Assembly packed the Supreme Court, replaced the attorney general with an administration ally, and dismissed hundreds of low-level judges and prosecutors in recent months.

Based on article 29 of the Salvadoran Constitution, the emergency law allows the Legislative Assembly to suspend some constitutional rights in extreme circumstances, such as "serious disturbances of public order" or a foreign invasion.

The Legislative Assembly has suspended the constitutional rights to freedom of assembly, privacy in communication, the right to be informed about the reason for arrest, remain silent, legal representation, and the requirement to take anyone detained before a judge within 72 hours in declaring a state of emergency.

The Human Rights Watch said Salvadoran authorities have not detailed what measures they will take in connection with the "state of emergency. However, Bukele earlier tweeted that the measures "will be adopted by the relevant institutions" and "informed only when necessary."

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Mary Webber

WATCH: El Salvador Declares State of Emergency as Gang Violence Soars - From Al Jazeera English