El Salvador Launches Unprecedented Mass Trials for 91,000 Detainees in Anti-Gang Crackdown

President Nayib Bukele's anti-gang war enters a new phase with mass trials for 91,000 detainees, sparking international concern over due process and life sentences.

By: AXL Media

Published: Apr 8, 2026, 10:50 AM EDT

Source: The Tico Times

The Shift Toward Collective Judicial Responsibility

El Salvador has officially moved into a new phase of its domestic security strategy, transitioning from mass arrests to a "factory of convictions." Under the direction of the Attorney General’s office, prosecutors aimed to issue 3,000 indictments in the first quarter of 2026 alone, grouping defendants by the geographical regions where their alleged gang "cliques" operated. Vice President Félix Ulloa defended the move as a necessary innovation, arguing that criminal responsibility in organized crime should be viewed as a collective enterprise, with sentences tiered based on the individual's rank within the Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) or Barrio 18 structures.

Legal Reforms and the Erosion of Due Process

Recent legislative overhauls have fundamentally altered the Salvadoran judicial landscape. Key reforms to the organized crime law have eliminated the preliminary hearing stage where evidence is typically evaluated, pushing defendants directly into mass trials. In these proceedings, hundreds of detainees appear virtually from prison via video link, often dressed in uniform white clothing. Defense attorneys have reported being excluded from critical hearings where anonymous "protected witnesses"—often imprisoned gang members seeking reduced sentences—provide testimony against the accused without the opportunity for cross-examination.

Transformative Analysis: The Human Cost of Quota-Based Policing

The administrative efficiency of the Bukele "mega-prison" system has come at a high cost to civil liberties. Reports from Human Rights Watch and local NGOs suggest that many of the 91,000 detainees were victims of "quota arrests," where security forces detained individuals based on anonymous tips or neighborhood disputes to meet internal government targets. For families in municipalities like Soyapango, the lack of individualized trials means that professionals with no criminal record, such as air-conditioning technicians and maquila workers, are being tried as "terrorists" simply for being in the same jurisdiction as gang activity.