Overview of Human Rights in El Salvador

El Salvador is a constitutional democracy. The government generally tries to respect the civil and human rights of its citizens. However, this effort is often undermined by widespread corruption in the law enforcement sector, and impunity.

El Salvador’s police force often arbitrarily arrest and detain ‘suspects’ and then use excessive force against them in order to obtain ‘confessions.’ There is often a lengthy pre-trial detention and access to proper representation is often restricted. The judicial system is often inefficient and corrupt; fair trials are rare. Prison conditions are extremely poor as there is inadequate supervision of the often overcrowded population and violence prevails.

Societal discrimination against disabled people, indigenous people, and homosexuals is becoming more pervasive. Child abuse, child labor, and child prostitution, as well as trafficking in persons, are also growing concerns to the international community.

Human Development Index (HDI) Rank:

101st out of 177

Note: Human Development Index (HDI) is a composite index that measures the level of well-being of nations in the world. It uses factors such as poverty, literacy, life-expectancy, education, gross domestic product, and purchasing power parity to assess the average achievements in each nation. It has been used in the United Nation’s Human Development Report since 1993.