SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador (AP) — The human rights organization Cristosal said Wednesday that at least 261 people have died in prisons in El Salvador during President Nayib Bukele's 2 1/2-year-old crackdown on street gangs.
Under a state of emergency originally declared in 2022 and still in effect, Bukele's government has rounded up 81,110 suspected gang members in sweeps that rights groups say are often arbitrary, based on a person’s appearance or where they live. The government has had to release about 7,000 people because of a lack of evidence.
The group said in a report that, as of April 15, 88 of the 261 deaths “may have been the result of a criminal act,” though it did not specify what those acts may have been.
The report said 87 of the deaths were due to illnesses, 14 were apparently “acts of violence” and no cause could be immediately identified for the other 72.
“People have died in El Salvador’s prisons and jails because of torture, a lack of food, unhealthy conditions, an inhuman lack of attention and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment,” said lawyer Zaira Navas, who authored the report. “There is a deliberate policy of not protecting the rights of incarcerated people.”
There was no immediate reaction from the government to the report.
While the government is accused of committing mass human rights abuses in the crackdown, Bukele remains highly popular in El Salvador because homicide rates sharply dipped following the detentions. The Central American nation went from being one of the most dangerous countries in the world to having the lowest homicide rate in the region.
Bukele rode that popularity into reelection in February, despite the country’s constitution prohibiting second terms for presidents.
In April, a report by the rights organization Humanitarian Legal Relief estimated that at least 241 people had died in Salvadoran prisons since the start of the crackdown.
Follow AP’s coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america
FILE - A mega-prison known as Detention Center Against Terrorism (CECOT) stands in Tecoluca, El Salvador, March 5, 2023. On Wednesday, July 10, 2024, Cristobal, an NGO, reported it had documented the deaths of 261 people, four of them children, who were in Salvadoran state custody, after being detained during the state of exception in force since March 2022. (AP Photo/Salvador Melendez, File)
WASHINGTON (AP) — First lady Jill Biden and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin traveled Friday to Maxwell Air Force Base in Alabama to highlight programs that the Pentagon and White House are rolling out to improve service members' quality of life as well as early childhood education in the military.
Biden and Austin visited a pre-kindergarten program the first lady has championed that funds universal preschool for children aged 3 and 4. The administration plans to expand it beyond military facilities and into education systems nationwide.
She said the program at Maxwell Elementary School — which provides full-day pre-kindergarten care for military children —“is part of the blueprint for making high-quality preschool available to every 3- and 4-year-old in America.”
In the on-base classroom, children identified letters, and once they did, got to feed a green paper dinosaur that Austin and Biden took turns holding. The kids also sang a song about frogs.
Austin said the Pentagon is looking at new ways to give service members more support to address higher prices for goods and housing. He has made improving troop quality of life a goal during his time as defense secretary.
To that end, the Pentagon is increasing the number of days that military families can stay in paid temporary housing when they move from base to base in response to concerns that it's been difficult to find off-base housing in competitive real estate markets. Austin also is looking at increasing the amount of money troops receive to cover uniform costs.
“We heard loud and clear that the families juggling work and raising kids need affordable child care and quality early childhood education,” Austin said.
His aim is to retain service members and show prospective recruits that the programs the Pentagon offers to support a military career, including more housing help, career assistance for spouses and pay raises.
Earlier this year, the Army, Marine Corps and Air Force reported they expect to meet recruitment goals for this budget year, but the Navy said it may fall short.
It has become more difficult for the military to recruit young people to serve. Fewer families have a direct connection to the military and more young people fall short of the fitness requirements to qualify.
First lady Jill Biden, center, and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, left, watch four and five-year-olds build with blocks at a military early childhood education program at Maxwell Air Force Base in Alabama, Friday, Sept. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Tara Copp)
FILE - First lady Jill Biden walks on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, July 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)
President Joe Biden and Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris attend a ceremony with Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. CQ Brown at the Pentagon in Washington, to commemorate the 23rd anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, Wednesday, Sept.11, 2024. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
