One Salvadoran a day disappears through security checkpoints, groups say

SAN SALVADOR — El Salvador, a small Central American country whose government has led a brutal crackdown on criminal gangs, sees one person disappear every day, according to a group of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) citing data provided by prosecutors.

The attorney general’s office counted 366 people who went missing in the 12 months ending May 31 of this year, the Working Group for Missing Persons in El Salvador, a coalition of nine NGOs, reported Wednesday.

Meanwhile, El Salvador’s government reports that there have been no murders for more than 650 days since President Nayib Bukele came to power in June 2019.

In March 2022, Bukele declared a so-called state of emergency, suspending certain civil rights, sending suspects to mass trials and building a “mega-prison.”

He has gained wide popularity for his efforts to improve security, and was re-elected in February with a whopping 85% of the vote. However, human rights groups have reported dozens of deaths in custody and say children are being arbitrarily detained, tortured and beaten.

Bukele has confirmed that El Salvador is the “safest country in the Western Hemisphere.”

Idalia Zepeda, a member of the NGO association, said the 366 missing persons reported last year represents an increase of almost 10% compared to estimates by the United Nations and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) for the previous year.

The NGOs have launched a portal where citizens can register missing persons online, in order to better map the figures and support the families of victims.

Representatives of the NGOs said the register should not replace the government’s duty to provide the public with accurate information.

They also criticized Andres Guzman, the government’s human rights commissioner, for the lack of transparency over the missing persons in El Salvador.

Neither Guzman’s office nor the attorney general’s office immediately responded to a request for comment.