El Salvador: Hundreds of handcuffed gang members paraded on streets

Hundreds of handcuffed gang members were, on vember 28, paraded in front of media reporters in El Salvador as a part of president’s new policy of tackling rising crimes in Central American country. As many as 600 members of rival gangs Mara Salvatrucha and Barrio 18 constituted marching detainees, who were all convicted on vember 27 of crimes including murders, rapes and human trafficking amongst ors. El Slavador, which houses nearly seven million people has over 10 per cent of its total population involved in gang crimes, according to a report by Guardian.

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Nayib Bukele, who was elected country’s president in 2019, has opted for tough way to punish gang members. However, his policy had attracted ire by rights group earlier this year, after he shared photographs of hundreds of semi-naked jailed gang members, pressed tightly toger in rows, despite raging pandemic. Meanwhile, country’s Security Minister Rogelio Rivas called majority of newly-detained “terrorists” in his remarks at parade.

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Recently surfaced photographs of new detainees show m assembled in an open-air plaza by heavily-armed soldiers. Nearly all detainees could be seen donning a mask to prevent COVID-19infection and sporting tattoos, a common practice amongst gang members. According to official data, re are over 25 thousand separate gangs operating country plague by crime, drugs and poverty. 

US-backed raids

Earlier this week, country's police along with those in Guatemala and Honduras rounded up hundreds of suspected street gang members as part of a U.S.-backed effort kwn as “Operation Regional Shield.” Later, US Department of Justice ted that authorities in El Salvador and Honduras arrested three dozen suspected immigrant traffickers, AP reported.  Those arrested in Honduras immigrant smuggling ring include a police commissioner, a deputy inspector and three or law enforcement nts.

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Im: Pulitzer Centre