El Salvador: Gangs \'taking advantage of pandemic\'

El Salvador: Gangs 'taking advantage of pandemic'

A relative reacts as police investigators collect evidence at a crime scene where a private security guard was purported killed by gang members, as the government undertakes steadily stricter measures to prevent the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in San Martin, El Salvador April 26, 2020 Image copyright Reuters
Image caption On Friday more people were killed than on any other day since President Bukele came into office

The president of El Salvador, Nayib Bukele, has said that criminal gangs are taking advantage of the coronavirus pandemic after more than 50 people were killed between Friday and Sunday.

He authorised the police and army to use lethal force to curb the violence.

He also ordered a 24/7 lockdown for imprisoned gang members, arguing that many of the murders were ordered from behind bars.

Mr Bukele was elected last year on a promise to reduce the murder rate.

Police said that 24 murders had been reported on Friday, making it the deadliest day since President Bukele came to power in June 2019.

Another 29 people were killed by Sunday afternoon local time, according to police figures.

Inmates at the Izalco prison, northwest of San Salvador, during a security operation within the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic.
AFP
We're going to ensure that the gang members who committed these murders are going to regret that decision their entire lives
Nayib Bukele
President of El Salvador

Mr Bukele said El Salvador's notorious criminal gangs were taking advantage of the fact that the security forces had turned their attention away from them and towards curbing the spread of coronavirus to act.

He said the security forces would be given more powers to deal with the threat. "The police and armed forces must prioritise safeguarding their lives, those of their companions and of honest citizens. The use of lethal force is authorized in self-defence or in defence of the lives of Salvadoreans," the president said.

He also said that prisoners belonging to rival gangs would be made to share cells.

El Salvador's security minister, Osiris Luna, said the idea behind making rival gang members mix was so as to break up lines of communication between members of the same group and thereby limit their ability to plan attacks.

He also said that they would "not receive sunlight, they will be in total confinement 24 hours a day in the seven maximum security prisons that there are in this country".

President Bukele also tweeted a video of him meeting with members of his security team saying those who had committed the crimes would live to regret them.

Video released by government showed inmates being transferred from cells and forced together in a jail.

The measures come just days after the United Nations urged governments around the world to release vulnerable prisoners to ease overcrowding in prisons as the coronavirus pandemic spreads further.

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Media captionEl Salvador: God or the gang