section_path: Presidency/Crime/Gang crackdown
section_name: Gang crackdown
paragraph_text: Gang crackdown
  
  From 25 to 27 March 2022, gangs in El Salvador committed 87 homicides; 62 were committed on 26 March alone, the deadliest day in Salvadoran history since the end of the Salvadoran Civil War (1979–1992). Florida International University research director José Miguel Cruz attributed the killings to a breakdown in a secret truce between the government and the gangs, a truce that Bukele denied making. Cruz believed that the killings were a message from the gangs to the government for more concessions as a part of the secret truce.
  
  MESSAGE TO THE GANGS: We have 16,000 "homeboys" in our power. Aside from the 1,000 arrested these days. We seized everything they had, even their mattresses, we've rationed their food, and now they won't see the sun. STOP KILLING NOW or they will pay too.
  
  On 27 March 2022, the Legislative Assembly declared a 30-day state of emergency, formally known as a " state of exception " (" régimen de excepción ") and sometimes known as the " war on gangs ". The state of emergency suspended constitutional rights that included freedom of assembly, freedom of association, the right to privacy in communication, the right to be informed of the reason for arrest, the right to remain silent, and the right to legal representation. The requirement for any arrested individual to see a judge within 72 hours of arrest was also suspended.
  
  The military was mobilized in neighborhoods controlled by gangs in an effort to reassert government control, and made large-scale arrests of suspected gang members across the country. In some instances, Bukele ordered security forces to blockade certain municipalities to capture all gang members within them. By October 2024, blockades were implemented twice in Apopa, Cabañas, Comasagua, Nuevo Concepción, San Marcos, southern Chalatenango, and Soyapango.
  
  Bukele has threatened incarcerated gang members. At the beginning of the crackdown, he tweeted that the government had seized incarcerated gang members' belongings, removed their mattresses, and rationed their food. Bukele also posted a video of prisoners sleeping on floors and complaining about a lack of food and sanitation. He threatened to deprive them of food entirely in April 2022 if the gangs attempted to retaliate against the crackdown, citing rumors about revenge killings.
  
  After members of Barrio 18 killed three police officers in Santa Ana in June 2022, Bukele said at a press conference that the gangs were "going to pay dearly" for the " ambush " against the police. The government began destroying gravestones belonging to deceased gang members in November 2022 to prevent them from becoming "shrines" and Bukele compared the gravestone destructions to denazification in post- World War II Germany. He warned Salvadoran parents to keep their children away from gangs, since they would lead to "prison or death".
  
  Shortly after the crackdown began, Bukele called for the construction of a new 20,000-inmate prison. He announced the construction in July 2022 of the 40,000-inmate Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT) in Tecoluca, that would be one of the world's largest prisons. In February 2023, Bukele posted a video on Twitter of him and members of his cabinet touring the prison. It is staffed by 250 police officers and 600 soldiers, and covers 410 acres (170 ha). Bukele posted a video on Twitter on 24 February 2023 of the transfer of the prison's first 2,000 prisoners, and posted a similar video the following month of the transfer of 2,000 more prisoners. By 11 June 2024, CECOT had at least 14,532 inmates.
  
  In July 2023, Bukele's government passed a law formalizing the judicial system's existing practice of mass trials by judge, allowing up to 900 people to be convicted in the same trial, without a jury.
  
  Liz Throssell, a spokeswoman for the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, called the actions of El Salvador's security forces during the gang crackdown an "unnecessary and excessive use of force". Human Rights Watch has stated that there was "mounting evidence" and "credible allegations" that Salvadoran authorities were committing human rights violations such as arbitrary arrests, enforced disappearances, false confessions, and deaths in police custody during the gang crackdown. Amnesty International stated the following month that the Salvadoran government has committed "massive human rights violations", including torture, against prisoners.
  
  In June 2024, Bukele told Time that the security situation in El Salvador had become sustainable and that he and his government hoped to end the state of emergency "in the near future". By 4 March 2025, the state of exception had been extended 36 times by the Legislative Assembly. By that same date, over 85,000 suspected gang members had been arrested, 3,319 of whom were minors according to Human Rights Watch. The large-scale arrests increased El Salvador's prison population from 37,190 in 2020 to over 105,000 by December 2023. With 1.7 percent of its population in prison, El Salvador has the highest incarceration rate in the world. By November 2024, more than 8,000 people had been released after the government determined that they were innocent. According to the human rights organizations, at least 367 people had died in custody by March 2025. A number of opinion polls between May 2022 and June 2023 indicated that 80 to 90 percent of Salvadorans approved of the gang crackdown and measures taken by the government against the gangs.
  
  From 25 to 27 March 2022, gangs in El Salvador committed 87 homicides; 62 were committed on 26 March alone, the deadliest day in Salvadoran history since the end of the Salvadoran Civil War (1979–1992). Florida International University research director José Miguel Cruz attributed the killings to a breakdown in a secret truce between the government and the gangs, a truce that Bukele denied making. Cruz believed that the killings were a message from the gangs to the government for more concessions as a part of the secret truce.
  
  MESSAGE TO THE GANGS: We have 16,000 "homeboys" in our power. Aside from the 1,000 arrested these days. We seized everything they had, even their mattresses, we've rationed their food, and now they won't see the sun. STOP KILLING NOW or they will pay too.
  
  On 27 March 2022, the Legislative Assembly declared a 30-day state of emergency, formally known as a " state of exception " (" régimen de excepción ") and sometimes known as the " war on gangs ". The state of emergency suspended constitutional rights that included freedom of assembly, freedom of association, the right to privacy in communication, the right to be informed of the reason for arrest, the right to remain silent, and the right to legal representation. The requirement for any arrested individual to see a judge within 72 hours of arrest was also suspended.
  
  The military was mobilized in neighborhoods controlled by gangs in an effort to reassert government control, and made large-scale arrests of suspected gang members across the country. In some instances, Bukele ordered security forces to blockade certain municipalities to capture all gang members within them. By October 2024, blockades were implemented twice in Apopa, Cabañas, Comasagua, Nuevo Concepción, San Marcos, southern Chalatenango, and Soyapango.
  
  Bukele has threatened incarcerated gang members. At the beginning of the crackdown, he tweeted that the government had seized incarcerated gang members' belongings, removed their mattresses, and rationed their food. Bukele also posted a video of prisoners sleeping on floors and complaining about a lack of food and sanitation. He threatened to deprive them of food entirely in April 2022 if the gangs attempted to retaliate against the crackdown, citing rumors about revenge killings.
  
  After members of Barrio 18 killed three police officers in Santa Ana in June 2022, Bukele said at a press conference that the gangs were "going to pay dearly" for the " ambush " against the police. The government began destroying gravestones belonging to deceased gang members in November 2022 to prevent them from becoming "shrines" and Bukele compared the gravestone destructions to denazification in post- World War II Germany. He warned Salvadoran parents to keep their children away from gangs, since they would lead to "prison or death".
  
  Shortly after the crackdown began, Bukele called for the construction of a new 20,000-inmate prison. He announced the construction in July 2022 of the 40,000-inmate Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT) in Tecoluca, that would be one of the world's largest prisons. In February 2023, Bukele posted a video on Twitter of him and members of his cabinet touring the prison. It is staffed by 250 police officers and 600 soldiers, and covers 410 acres (170 ha). Bukele posted a video on Twitter on 24 February 2023 of the transfer of the prison's first 2,000 prisoners, and posted a similar video the following month of the transfer of 2,000 more prisoners. By 11 June 2024, CECOT had at least 14,532 inmates.
  
  In July 2023, Bukele's government passed a law formalizing the judicial system's existing practice of mass trials by judge, allowing up to 900 people to be convicted in the same trial, without a jury.
  
  Liz Throssell, a spokeswoman for the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, called the actions of El Salvador's security forces during the gang crackdown an "unnecessary and excessive use of force". Human Rights Watch has stated that there was "mounting evidence" and "credible allegations" that Salvadoran authorities were committing human rights violations such as arbitrary arrests, enforced disappearances, false confessions, and deaths in police custody during the gang crackdown. Amnesty International stated the following month that the Salvadoran government has committed "massive human rights violations", including torture, against prisoners.
  
  In June 2024, Bukele told Time that the security situation in El Salvador had become sustainable and that he and his government hoped to end the state of emergency "in the near future". By 4 March 2025, the state of exception had been extended 36 times by the Legislative Assembly. By that same date, over 85,000 suspected gang members had been arrested, 3,319 of whom were minors according to Human Rights Watch. The large-scale arrests increased El Salvador's prison population from 37,190 in 2020 to over 105,000 by December 2023. With 1.7 percent of its population in prison, El Salvador has the highest incarceration rate in the world. By November 2024, more than 8,000 people had been released after the government determined that they were innocent. According to the human rights organizations, at least 367 people had died in custody by March 2025. A number of opinion polls between May 2022 and June 2023 indicated that 80 to 90 percent of Salvadorans approved of the gang crackdown and measures taken by the government against the gangs.