Mass Trial Begins for 486 Alleged Gang Members in El Salvador

El Salvador has begun a mass trial of 486 alleged MS-13 gang members accused of committing over 47,000 crimes including murder, extortion, and drug trafficking between 2012 and 2022. The trial, conducted via video link from prison, follows President Nayib Bukele's declaration of war on gangs after 87 people were killed in one weekend in March 2022. Since then, a state of emergency has suspended constitutional rights and led to tens of thousands of arrests. While supporters credit Bukele's hardline approach with making El Salvador safer, United Nations experts and human rights groups criticize the mass trials as undermining fair trial rights and enabling arbitrary detentions.

Mass trial of 486 alleged MS-13 gang members

• ▪Among those on trial are people alleged to have been involved in a wave of gang violence in March 2022 that saw 87 people killed in one weekend
• ▪MS-13 was founded in Los Angeles during the 1980s by immigrants who had fled El Salvador's civil war
• ▪MS-13 was designated as a terrorist organisation by the United States in 2023
• ▪A mass trial of 486 suspected MS-13 gang members has begun in El Salvador
• ▪413 of the 486 suspected MS-13 gang members were already in custody when the mass trial began
• ▪The charges against the 486 suspected MS-13 gang members include femicide and disappearances
• ▪The 486 suspected MS-13 gang members are collectively accused of committing more than 47,000 crimes between 2012 and 2022
• ▪The crimes attributed to the 486 suspected MS-13 gang members include murder, extortion, drug trafficking, and arms trafficking
• ▪Arrest warrants have been issued for 73 of the 486 suspected MS-13 gang members who are being prosecuted in absentia
• ▪The 486 suspected MS-13 gang members are charged with rebellion for attempting to maintain territorial control to establish a parallel state

Bukele's state of emergency and crackdown on gangs

• ▪Supporters of President Nayib Bukele's hardline approach to fighting crime say it has made El Salvador a safer place
• ▪President Nayib Bukele declared a war on gangs following a wave of gang violence in March 2022 that killed 87 people in one weekend
• ▪Tens of thousands of suspected gang members have been arrested in El Salvador since the state of emergency came into force in March 2022
• ▪A state of emergency has been in place in El Salvador since March 2022

International criticism of mass trials and due process concerns

• ▪United Nations experts have criticised the use of mass trials in El Salvador, saying they undermine the exercise of the right to defence and the presumption of innocence of detainees
• ▪United Nations experts have warned the government of El Salvador that it cannot trample on fair trial rights in the name of public safety

Perspective of Supporters of President Nayib Bukele

• ▪Supporters of Nayib Bukele's anti-gang policies view the mass trial of 486 MS-13 members as justified given the scale of crimes committed

Perspective of El Salvador's attorney general's office

• ▪El Salvador's attorney general's office maintains that its evidence against the 486 MS-13 defendants is sufficient to justify the harshest available sentences