(Corrects typo in fourth paragraph)
SAN SALVADOR (Reuters) -Waging a marketing campaign in opposition to gangs accountable for El Salvador having one of many world’s highest homicide charges, Congress within the Central American republic handed a invoice on Tuesday criminalizing the publication of gang messages, together with by information retailers.
Last month, President Nayib Bukele invoked emergency powers to droop some constitutional rights to crackdown on gangs engaged in drug trafficking and extortion, and ramped up jail sentences for members of legal organizations.
“When the Germans wished to eradicate Nazism, they outlawed Nazi symbols (…); nobody stated something,” Bukele wrote on Twitter after Congress go the invoice on Tuesday. “That’s what we’ll do with the gangs.”
The invoice, which can turn out to be regulation as soon as Bukele indicators it, would set jail sentences of up to 15 years for anybody discovered responsible of relaying gang messages.
The new laws additionally targets anybody who leaves gang graffiti “or any type of visible expression” associated to Mara Salvatrucha, its rival Barrio 18 or different smaller teams.
The invoice didn’t element the kind of messages that can be lined. But journalists in El Salvador usually supply their tales to images and movies that present graphic violence, together with messages left by alleged gang members, and even interviews, graffiti and audios shared by way of social media platforms.
El Salvador registered 87 murders in three days final month allegedly dedicated by gang members. One Saturday alone, the nation registered 62 murders, the very best quantity in a century, safety and human rights specialists stated.
In 2017, the final 12 months lined by a United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime report on homicides, confirmed El Salvador had the very best homicide fee on this planet, with almost 62 murders per 100,000 folks.
Salvadoran authorities have arrested 6,312 alleged gang members up to now 10 days. But human rights organizations have warned of police abuse and arbitrary detention of suspects with out entry to authorized counsel.
Opposition events and crime reporters within the nation spoke out in opposition to the transfer.
“There’s a transparent violation of the liberty of the press and liberty of data. This is not concerning the retailers, it’s a couple of constitutional proper and worldwide legal guidelines that our nation follows,” stated Rene Portillo, an opposition lawmaker.
(Reporting by Nelson Renteria in San Salvador; Writing by Kylie Madry in Mexico City; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore)
