Human Rights Abuses in El Salvador

below is a recent release from the US state department, which doesnt exactly have the best record of being fairly critical of right wing governments. however, i was surprised to read their report, or at least skim it haha.

there are more details on the linked page above, but here is the really short version. the government in power is mostly from the right. the legislative elections are this sunday. we'll see what happens!

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El Salvador

Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2005
Released by the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor
March 8, 2006


El Salvador is a constitutional, multiparty democracy with an estimated population of 6.7 million. In March 2004 voters elected Elias Antonio Saca of the Nationalist Republican Alliance (ARENA) as president for a five-year term in generally free and fair elections. Civilian authorities generally maintained effective control of the security forces.

Although the government generally respected the rights of its citizens, protection of human rights was undermined by widespread impunity, corruption among the security forces and other governmental authorities, and gang violence. The following human rights problems were reported:

excessive use of force and mistreatment of detainees by members of the security forces
arbitrary arrest and detention
harsh prison conditions, including inadequate supervision, widespread violence, and overcrowding
lengthy pretrial detention
inefficiency and corruption in the judicial system
violence and discrimination against women
abuses against children, child labor, and forced child prostitution
trafficking in persons
discrimination against persons with disabilities
discrimination against indigenous persons
discrimination against persons based on sexual orientation
lack of enforcement of trade union rights