Venezuelan migrants being treated as terrorists by Salvadoran security agents. Photo: El Salvador President Press Office.
El Salvador’s General Directorate of Penitentiary Centers issued a document stating that any information related to Venezuelan prisoners transferred from the US to El Salvador’s notorious CECOT prison will remain confidential for a period of seven years.
The statement, which can be added to other human rights violations by Nayib Bukele’s government, was reported by the media outlet Infodemia, which requested a copy of the agreement signed between the governments of El Salvador and the United States from the institution in charge of the prison system.
The institution responded: “The requested information is part of the institution’s security policies; therefore, it cannot be provided. All information contained, generated, and stored, whether physical or digital, in the Penitentiary Information System (SIPE), remains completely confidential for a period of seven years.”
Situation of the detainees
In this regard, the director of the Humanitarian Legal Aid (SJH) organization, Ingrid Escobar, stated that with this decision to withhold information about the detainees, uncertainty about the situation of the detained Venezuelans has only increased, since their whereabouts and conditions are unknown.
“The crime of enforced disappearance is undoubtedly continuing, and with this attitude of declaring everything confidential, it is even more so, because it is the state authorities who have transferred these individuals to the CECOT since they set foot on Salvadoran territory,” Escobar stated.
The human rights defender also noted that irregularities in the detention process of the Venezuelans raise numerous questions. “This is a blatant, intentional forced disappearance by the state of El Salvador,” she added.
(RedRadioVE) by Milena Bravo
Translation: Orinoco Tribune
OT/JRE/SL
