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Human Rights Watch Details Due-Process Violations in El Salvador Trials

By Drooid · Oct 8, 2026, 4:42 PM UTC · How we work

Summary

Story summary

Human Rights Watch released a report documenting widespread due-process violations in El Salvador’s mass trials.
The report examined four indictments covering over 600 defendants and one ruling affecting more than 120 people.
Defense lawyers said they could not view case files or meet clients privately.
Most convictions depended on anonymous, immunity-granted witnesses and unverified police reports.
About 120,000 people—roughly 2 % of the population—remain imprisoned, one of the world’s highest rates.

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Story summary

Human Rights Watch released a report documenting widespread due-process violations in El Salvador’s mass trials.
The report examined four indictments covering over 600 defendants and one ruling affecting more than 120 people.
Defense lawyers said they could not view case files or meet clients privately.
Most convictions depended on anonymous, immunity-granted witnesses and unverified police reports.
About 120,000 people—roughly 2 % of the population—remain imprisoned, one of the world’s highest rates.