Salvadoran prisons are severely over-crowded, with occupancies that are 215% of the maximum capacities. After 77 people were killed in the country in late April in gang related violence, President Nayib Bukele ordered a lockdown of prisons containing gang members, citing evidence that the killings were ordered from inside penal facilities. This lockdown has resulted in multiple violations of health recommendations regarding COVID-19 and El Salvador’s state obligations to uphold human rights according to the American Convention on Human Rights (ACHR) and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).

CROWDING, ISOLATION, AND THE USE OF LETHAL FORCE ARE HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS

The lockdown has resulted in regulations around social distancing being ignored as large numbers of inmates are crammed together, likely increasing any spread of COVID-19. A useful comparison comes in the spread of tuberculosis, another respiratory viral disease that has a high incidence rate in El Salvador’s prisons. According to the Pan American Journal of Public Health, tuberculosis infections are 50x higher in El Salvador prisons than in the wider society.

The lockdown has also resulted in cells being isolated in order to avoid any contact with the outside world, the form of communication that allegedly led to the murders that resulted in the lockdown. Osiris Luna, the deputy minister of justice, said in a speech that “no ray of sunlight will enter the cells”. At the same time, the President has authorised lethal force in dealing with the gangs outside the prisons, even if such action is not a last resort. This is out of line with both international and Salvadoran law, which authorises such action only as a last resort. Bukele’s authorisation is therefore not either proportional or necessary, but a violation of international human rights law.

Both the ACHR and ICCPR have articles guaranteeing that prisoners “shall be treated with humanity and with respect for the inherent dignity of the human person” (ICCPR, Article 10). By crowding the prisoners and putting them at risk of contagion, alongside isolation and denying any contact with the outside world, the state is simply not respecting the human dignity of the inmates.

Furthermore, there is a worry that state leaders are using the current pandemic to further their power, violating human rights in the process. José Miguel Vivanco, executive director of the Americas division of Human Rights Watch, claimed that “I don’t think it’s unreasonable, given his record, to predict that he will take even more dramatic steps to undermine democracy in El Salvador”. 

GRANT INMATES EARLY RELEASE

The challenge of prison virus outbreaks is not unique to El Salvador, but can be seen across Latin America. Isolating the inmates and cancelling visitations has led to a decline in hygiene as no products can be brought in from the outside and prices in prison stores increasing. The conditions that many prisons in Latin America are facing are unsustainable, with prison occupancy in Haiti at 450%, for example, and almost 200% in Brazil. When this level of over-crowding health recommendations to avoid spreading of the virus are virtually impossible. In the face of challenges like these, the answer is not to isolate inmates in crowded cells, but instead to optimise the hygiene and inmate allocation. 

The UN Subcommittee on the Prevention of Torture has urged governments to do their fullest in order to minimise crowding in prisons by granting early releases, as well as the persons arbitrarily detained or arrested without charge. Only through early release and a reduction in prison populations can COVID-19 cases be minimised, and fundamental human rights of prisoners be upheld.  

Sam is a Masters student in human rights at Uppsala University in Sweden. He focuses on migration and international law. He is also an activist working with Amnesty International Sweden to make changes to policy in line with the human rights framework.

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