Human rights body urges El Salvador to end state of emergency

SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador (AP) — The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights urged El Salvador Wednesday to end the more than two-year state of emergency, which has suspended fundamental civil rights while the government pursued the country’s powerful street gangs. The regional human rights body noted that plunging rates of violence in El Salvador made clear that the state of emergency was no longer no longer justifiable. El Salvador’s congress granted President Nayib Bukele extraordinary powers to take on the gangs in March 2022 after a surge in gang violence. Since then, lawmakers have renewed the special powers every month, including this week.