Bukele has arrested over 100,000 people in El Salvador, now he wants to release half of them : President Nayib Bukele arrested 3% of the male population of El Salvador, almost exclusively from poor neighborhoods, and many without trials. Now he’s saying that 50% of those victims of the state will be released on parole. Critics of his draconian security policy are calling it an admission that many of those detained are not guilty of any crimes. Since Bukele declared a “temporary” state of emergency, security forces have arrested more than 100,000 people in arbitrary sweeps carried out by police. His CECOT “mega-prison” is one of the most notorious in the Americas. Detainees are regularly subjected to beatings, sleep and food deprivation, and denied regular medical attention. 576 people have died in custody, and Human Rights Watch and other watchdog organizations have reported conditions that amount to torture. Many were convicted in mass trials that violated their rights to due ...