Rights Commission urges El Salvador to respect rights

SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador (AP) — The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights is calling on the government of El Salvador to respect human rights, after authorities declared a state of emergency and rounded up 14,000 suspected gang members. The commission said the arrests often appear arbitrary. Inmates held at Salvadoran prisons have been put on reduced food rations, denied mattresses and frog-marched around. The state of emergency restricts the right to gather, to be informed of rights and access to a lawyer. It extends to 15 days the time that someone can be held without charges. The commission warned the government that even with the decree, “its power is not unlimited.”