El Salvador Protests Held over Bukele’s Mass Trials
“This is a genocide, what the Government is plotting: grouping innocents together with real criminals,” they protested.
HAVANA TIMES — Nearly a hundred relatives of people detained in El Salvador, who defend the innocence of their family members, protested on Sunday, February 15, 2026, against the mass trials of individuals arrested in the context of the state of exception in force since March 2022, and denounced irregularities in the proceedings.
A criminal reform approved in 2023 by the Legislative Assembly — dominated by the ruling party — allows for the carrying out of mass criminal proceedings against alleged gang members in hearings that may remain open.
“This is a genocide, what the Government is plotting: grouping innocents together with real criminals. That is what the state of exception has done,” and “there is no intention on the part of this government to free the innocent,” Samuel Ramírez of the Victims of the Regime Movement (MOVIR) told reporters.
He added that for the relatives of those gathered in MOVIR — whose innocence they defend and whom they affirm do not belong to gangs — authorities “could not find a crime individually, case by case.”
He maintained that in these cases “the level of evidence is almost nil” and that “they do not allow defense witnesses or people who can attest to their innocence,” in addition to the fact that defense attorneys are not being notified of hearings with sufficient advance notice.
“They have not allowed families to present proof with documents that show the person was a worker, a good neighbor, a good father, very responsible, they only admit what the prosecution says. So it is a new trap to justify mass convictions,” Ramirez denounced.
The demonstrators, dressed in shirts bearing the names and faces of their relatives and carrying banners demanding freedom, walked along the main streets of San Salvador until reaching the Historic Center, where they gathered.
Along their route the protesters chanted slogans such as “we defend the innocent, not criminals,” “they took them alive, we want them alive,” and “freedom for the innocent”.
The controversial state of exception — accused of violating human rights — has become the government’s main strategy against gangs and earned President Bukele, who maintains high approval among Salvadorans, immediate reelection for a second term despite the constitutional prohibition.
In the context of this measure, in force since March 2022, more than 90,000 alleged gang members have been arrested, according to security authorities, but the government has acknowledged the detention of at least 8,000 innocent people.
Human rights organizations have documented more than 6,400 complaints of abuses, in addition to the deaths of more than 480 people in state custody.
Published in Spanish by Confidencial and translated and posted in English by Havana Times.