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The human rights organization Cristosal said that at least 261 people have died in prisons in El Salvador during President Nayib Bukele’s 2 1/2-year-old crackdown on street gangs.
Under a state of emergency originally declared in 2022 and still in effect, Bukele’s government has rounded up 81110 suspected gang members in sweeps that rights groups say are often arbitrary, based on a person’s appearance or where they live. The government has had to release about 7,000 people because of a lack of evidence.
The group said in a report that, as of April 15, 88 of the 261 deaths “may have been the result of a criminal act,” though it did not specify what those acts may have been.
The report said 87 of the deaths were due to illnesses, 14 were apparently “acts of violence” and no cause could be immediately identified for the other 72.
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