UN Child Rights Report: El Salvador Submission

Introduction

Human Rights Watch submits this report in advance of the 103rd pre-session of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child and its review of El Salvador. The submission focuses on violations of children's rights during the state of emergency, in force since March 2022. It documents arbitrary detention, arbitrary prosecution, torture and ill-treatment in detention, and abusive legislative reforms that erode protections for children's rights.

1. Arbitrary Detention (Articles 2, 3, 9, 37)

Since the declaration of the state of emergency in March 2022, Salvadoran security forces have detained more than 3,300 children, many of whom had no apparent connection to gangs' criminal activities.[1] Human Rights Watch's research indicates that these detentions have frequently taken place in low-income neighborhoods marked by high levels of poverty and gang presence, where mass arrests have been carried out indiscriminately.[2]

Human Rights Watch documented that from March 2022 to June 2024, security forces routinely detained children without warrants and without informing them of the reasons for their arrest.[3] Numerous children were arrested in their homes, on the street, or at school, in police and military operations that lacked adequate oversight. Police and soldiers often detained children solely because they lived in communities historically controlled by gangs or because they fit a stereotyped profile of a gang member, based on factors such as clothing or tattoos. In several cases, children-and their families-had themselves been victims of gang threats, extortion, or violence.[4]

Human Rights Watch's interviews with police officers indicate that many detentions during the state of emergency were driven by arrest "quotas" issued by commanders of the National Civil Police.[5] These quotas pressured officers to detain a certain number of people per day and contributed to violations of the principles of legality and non-discrimination. Many children were arrested based on uncorroborated or fabricated allegations from anonymous informants.[6]

Under Salvadoran law, detained children must be transferred to administrative shelters and brought before a judge within 72 hours.[7] Under the state of emergency, the government extended this limit to 15 days.[8] Human Rights Watch documented numerous cases of children held well beyond the 72-hour limit, sometimes without any communication to families. Many children were held incommunicado in shelters[9] and detention facilities[10] for days, weeks or months after their arrest.[11]

Human Rights Watch also documented cases in which children were detained in police stations alongside unrelated adults, exposing them to heightened risks of violence.[12] These practices violate Salvadoran law and international standards requiring strict separation of children from adult detainees.[13]

Human Rights Watch recommends that the Committee ask the government of El Salvador:

• How many children have been detained since March 2022, disaggregated by age, gender, location, grounds for arrest, and length of detention?
• What legal basis exists for detaining children without warrants, and what oversight mechanisms monitor compliance with Article 9 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC)?
• What measures exist to ensure that children are never held with adults and that all shelters housing children meet minimum international standards regarding access to basic services including space, ventilation, sanitation, food, and medical care?
• What measures exist to ensure that children are allowed to communicate with their relatives and lawyers?

Human Rights Watch recommends that the Committee call on the government of El Salvador to:

• End the state of emergency.
• Immediately end the use of arrest quotas and ensure all detentions of children comply with the principles of legality, necessity, proportionality, and non-discrimination.
• Reinstate and enforce the 72-hour maximum for administrative detention and ensure prompt judicial review in all cases involving children.
• Guarantee immediate and reliable communication to families and lawyers when a child is detained.

2. Arbitrary Prosecution and Due Process Violations (Articles 37, 40)

Human Rights Watch documented widespread violations of children's due process rights during criminal proceedings.[14] Violations included prolonged and unnecessary use of pretrial detention, inadequate access to legal representation, and improper restrictions on contact with family members.[15]

Most detainees had public defenders who faced an immense workload and often failed to provide an adequate defense. As of November 2025, there were 291 public defenders in El Salvador, each representing an average of 310 detainees.[16] The situation was also dire for children in the youth criminal justice system. With over 3,000 youth criminal cases and only 27 public defenders assigned to the Juvenile Criminal Unit, each defender was responsible for approximately 108 cases on average.[17]

In most cases prosecutors presented unreliable or uncorroborated evidence, such as statements solely from security officers or from anonymous informants-and courts convicted children on that basis.

Human Rights Watch documented a few cases in which children were pressured to plead guilty, including in group hearings that provided no individualized assessment of responsibility.[18] As of February 2024, at least 1,000 children had been convicted during the state of emergency, mostly for "unlawful association."

The offense of unlawful association-created in 2016-is broadly and vaguely defined.[19] It criminalizes anyone who "takes part" in a gang; is the "creator, organizer, chief, leader, or financier" of a gang; "promotes, helps, facilitates, or favors" the creation or presence of such groups; or, knowing they are unlawful, "receives direct or indirect benefit" from relations "of any nature" with them, "even without being part of them."

Human Rights Watch recommends that the Committee ask the government of El Salvador:

• How many children have been charged under "unlawful association," and what evidentiary standards have been applied?
• What safeguards exist to prevent coerced guilty pleas and ensure individualized judicial determinations?
• What mechanisms guarantee children access to legal representation at the time of arrest, during investigations, and at trial?

Human Rights Watch recommends that the Committee call on the government of El Salvador to:

• Ensure all prosecutions of children comply with Article 40 and ensure convictions are not based solely on uncorroborated or anonymous testimony.
• Ensure immediate access to qualified legal counsel for all children upon arrest.
• Prohibit group hearings and ensure individualized assessment in every case involving a child.
• Immediately review all convictions issued during the state of emergency to identify cases involving due process violations.
• Amend "unlawful association" and related statutes to ensure precise, proportionate, and age-appropriate application consistent with international youth justice standards.

3. Ill-Treatment and Torture in Detention (Articles 19, 37)

Human Rights Watch documented severe ill-treatment of children during the state of emergency including at the time of arrest and throughout their detention in shelters and detention facilities.[20] In numerous cases, the abuses reported constitute torture or other cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment under international law.[21]

Children described being beaten by security forces during arrest and detention with fists, belts, and batons, and in some cases, subjected to suffocation, burned and threatened with death.[22]

Detention conditions in shelters and detention facilities were extremely harsh. Many children lacked mattresses, blankets, or hygiene products, and were forced to sleep on concrete floors for days or weeks. Some described sleep deprivation, and lack of access to medical care despite injuries.[23]

Authorities also imposed various forms of collective punishment, including pepper-spraying cells, confiscating clothing, reducing meals, or forcing detainees to remain standing for extended periods.[24]

Human Rights Watch documented some cases of security forces threatening children who had been released from the youth justice system with re-arrest once they turn 18. Repeated harassment has led several children interviewed to leave their communities, often disrupting their education and separating them from their families. Some children and their relatives said they were considering leaving El Salvador for fear of being arbitrarily detained.[25]

Human Rights Watch recommends that the Committee ask the government of El Salvador:

• How many allegations of torture or ill-treatment of children have been investigated since March 2022, and what were the outcomes of those investigations?
• What mechanisms exist for detained children to report abuse confidentially and safely?
• How many children received medical evaluations following arrest, and are such examinations conducted by independent medical personnel?
• What training do detention personnel receive regarding the treatment and protection of children?
• What actions has the Human Rights Ombudsperson's Office (PDDH) taken since March 2022 to monitor conditions for detained children, investigate alleged abuses, and issue public recommendations?

Human Rights Watch recommends that the Committee call on the government of El Salvador to:

• Establish an independent investigative mechanism empowered to examine allegations of torture and other abuses against children, with authority to access all facilities.
• Ensure that children have confidential channels to report abuse and that cases are promptly referred to civilian judicial authorities.
• Immediately end collective punishment practices and ensure compliance with the UN Rules for the Protection of Juveniles Deprived of Their Liberty.
• Ensure immediate medical screening for all children entering detention, conducted by independent medical professionals.
• Guarantee prompt family contact and restore regular visitation rights consistent with child protection standards.
• Ensure independent, unrestricted, and regular oversight of all facilities where children are detained, including through national and international monitoring bodies, with full access to interview children confidentially and report publicly on conditions.

4. Legislative Amendments Undermining Youth Justice (Articles 37, 40)

Legislative changes adopted since 2022 have expanded the punitive approach of El Salvador's youth justice system.

In March 2022, the Assembly reformed the Juvenile Criminal Law, establishing "prison sentences" for children as young as 12.[26] The reform also increased the maximum prison sentence to 10 years for children aged 12 to 15 for "gang association" and up to 20 years for those aged 16 to 18.[27]

In February 2025, President Nayib Bukele enacted reforms authorizing the transfer of children accused of "organized crime offenses" to separate pavilions within adult prisons administered by the General Directorate of Penal Centers.[28] Human Rights Watch has documented torture and ill-treatment in these prisons, as well as deaths in custody indicative of state responsibility and severely inhumane conditions, including overcrowding, systematic violence, and extreme deprivation of basic needs.[29] Placing children in such facilities-even in separate units-exposes them to a high risk of abuse.

The February 2025 amendments to the Organized Crime Law also limit the role of specialized youth judges, who now act only as "guarantee judges," supervising compliance with rights but no longer deciding on the cases.[30]

These reforms contravene core youth justice principles under the CRC, including the requirement that detention be used only as a measure of last resort, the best interests of the child, the primacy of rehabilitation over punishment, the strict separation of children from adults, and the application of age-appropriate procedures and sanctions.[31]

Human Rights Watch recommends that the Committee ask the government of El Salvador:

• How many children have been transferred to adult prison facilities since the law was enacted?
• How does the government ensure complete separation of children from adults in adult prisons?
• What measures guarantee that children continue to receive education, psychosocial support, and rehabilitation services?
• What impact assessments were conducted prior to adopting these legislative changes?
• How does the government ensure that specialized youth judges retain meaningful authority to protect children's rights throughout the proceedings?

Human Rights Watch recommends that the Committee call on the government of El Salvador to:

• Repeal all legal provisions authorizing the transfer of children to adult prisons and restore a strictly youth-based detention model.
• Reverse the 2022 and 2025 amendments that extend sentences for children and adopt sentencing frameworks consistent with Article 40.
• Ensure that all children currently held in adult facilities are immediately relocated to age-appropriate facilities.
• Ensure detention of children is only used as a last resort, for the shortest appropriate period, consistent with Article 37 of the CRC.
• Restore a rehabilitative youth justice system centered on education, reintegration, and support services rather than punishment.
• Engage with the Committee on the Rights of the Child and international experts to revise national legislation in line with best practices.