Anna-Cat Brigida

Grow­ing num­ber of peo­ple de­tained in gang crack­down be­ing ‘re­ar­rest­ed’, ex­perts say, rais­ing fears pol­i­cy will not end.

The gov­ern­ment’s eight-month state of ex­cep­tion has seen civ­il lib­er­ties sus­pend­ed and tens of thou­sands im­pris­oned.

Sula Val­ley res­i­dents say in­ad­e­quate gov­ern­ment re­sponse to past storms has left them ex­cep­tion­al­ly vul­ner­a­ble.

While many wel­come pres­i­dent’s plan to seek sec­ond term, ac­tivists say it could has­ten fur­ther rights vi­o­la­tions.

The Cas­tro ad­min­is­tra­tion says it will sup­port groups such as the Gar­i­fu­na, but com­mu­ni­ty mem­bers are de­mand­ing ac­tion.

Thou­sands have been ar­rest­ed since the coun­try sus­pend­ed cer­tain civ­il lib­er­ties amid a crack­down on gangs.

Po­lice, mil­i­tary and ju­di­cial sys­tem face pres­sure to im­ple­ment mass ar­rest and in­car­cer­a­tion pol­i­cy, ex­perts say.

Rel­a­tives of peo­ple ar­rest­ed in gov­ern­ment’s crack­down on gangs say they have lit­tle to no in­for­ma­tion about loved ones.

Pres­i­dent Nay­ib Bukele says his gov’t is stamp­ing out gang vi­o­lence, but ex­perts doc­u­ment pat­tern of ar­bi­trary ar­rests.

As court clears way for Juan Or­lan­do Her­nan­dez to face charges in US, ex­perts say fight against cor­rup­tion con­tin­ues.