Portrait of a ‘Terrorist’ in El Salvador

The story of Dalila Johana Flores Flores is one among 1000’s of arbitrary detentions which have taken place in El Salvador. Her expertise demonstrates that, underneath the state of emergency, any individual will be labeled a “terrorist” and imprisoned for months, even when there are public officers who guarantee that she has no relation in any respect with gangs.

Johana turned a “terrorist” on the morning of January 17, 2023. Till that day, she was a younger lady of 24, with no police document of any form, a mom of a three-year-old lady, who earned her residing grinding corn in a nixtamal mill and getting ready the dough for the tortillas eaten by virtually everybody within the El Maneadero district of Zacatecoluca, La Paz

Round 9 o’clock that morning, a gaggle of about 10 troopers confirmed up on the Flores household house. In control of the platoon was a sergeant. Johana was grinding corn, as she did virtually day by day at the moment. 

The troopers approached her politely and requested for her ID. The identical easy and routine request for identification has develop into the start of 1000’s of dramas for the reason that Legislative Meeting, on the request of President Nayib Bukele, declared a state of emergency on March 27, 2022.

The decree was aimed on the gang members of the Mara Salvatrucha (MS13) and Barrio 18. Salvadoran legislation classifies these legal teams as terrorists, they usually have tormented households like Johana’s for years. Nevertheless, underneath the decree, greater than 73,000 folks have been detained, lots of them because of nameless calls, or quotas demanded from police and troopers moderately than because of critical investigations.

‘Simply to Confirm’

All detentions start with that straightforward, routine ID request. When the troopers began to inquire about Johana that morning, her father, Francisco Antonio Flores Murillo, returned house. He had simply come from caging some cows he owned. 

“I used to be shocked and requested her, ‘What’s happening?’ ‘They requested me for my ID,’ she stated. ‘And why?’ I stated. ‘To verify,’ she replied,” Francisco remembers.

Johana continued grinding corn and attending to the neighbors who got here for his or her corita (25 cents) of masa. In the meantime, a small group of troopers walked with the ID to a home a block and a half away. Johana’s household stated the home was house to family members of one of many leaders of the Barrio 18 Revolucionarios in Zacatecoluca, one of many three most necessary gangs in El Salvador and one of many regime’s predominant targets. 

In line with Johana’s family members, her drawback started in that home. They’d had critical clashes with this household, and Francisco had organized the neighborhood to confront them. Francisco is satisfied that the false data that turned his daughter right into a “terrorist” was supplied by the mom of one of many leaders of the Barrio 18 Revolucionarios in Zacatecoluca, who has been imprisoned since 2018. Francisco believes she accused her daughter out of revenge. 

SEE ALSO: El Salvador Police Stories Contradict Bukele’s Triumphalism

“This canton has had a powerful presence of gang members, and we organized ourselves. We tried to guard one another, as a result of we’re seven brothers,” Francisco stated.

“I feel they went to indicate them my daughter’s ID, as a result of a day earlier than, the troopers had been in that home, and there they misinformed about my daughter and extra folks, as a result of it was them who shaped the gang that operates right here,” stated Maribel Flores, Johana’s mom. 

The irony continues to hang-out her. 

“The family members of the true gang members accused my daughter of being a gang member,” she stated.

After some time, the sergeant stated they’d take her to the Nationwide Civil Police (Policia Nacional Civil – PNC) station in Zacatecoluca, “simply to confirm.” 

Francisco tried to cease her. He requested them for arrest warrants that they didn’t have. He gave them Johana’s cellphone so they might verify it, they usually returned it as a result of they didn’t discover something suspicious. They’ve it at house. The change of phrases was tense however cordial.

However the resolution was made. The platoon waited for Johana to complete grinding, for her to wash, after which they took her away in a white pickup truck assigned to the armed forces. They stored it on the army submit subsequent to the Zacatecoluca Safety Jail — generally known as “Zacatraz” in reference to the notorious jail in San Francisco, California — which is a bit more than six kilometers from El Maneadero.

Francisco took his granddaughter in his arms and requested to go together with them. Maribel, who had gone to Zacatecoluca to run some errands, went to the police station, however all the pieces went too quick. Maribel stated inside 15 or 20 minutes, a policewoman laconically knowledgeable them that she was being detained “for illicit affiliation,” the designation underneath which most have been imprisoned for the reason that regime started.

There have been complaints and a few yelling, however they weren’t even allowed to say goodbye. The police even threatened to arrest them too.

Johana’s Defenders

Because the day of the arrest, Johana’s household has gone to nice lengths to publicize her case. The exculpatory paperwork that assist this report have been introduced on the preliminary listening to or in subsequent judicial proceedings. They’ve employed a lawyer; they recounted their misfortune to a journalist from El Diario de Hoy; they’ve spoken to human rights organizations; they’ve gone to the Human Rights Ombudsman’s Workplace; they’ve attended marches and have even written a letter to Bukele, which they despatched to the presidential palace.

A veteran agent of the PNC’s Specialised Response Pressure (Fuerza Especializada de Reacción), an anti-gang unit created in 2016, swore earlier than a notary that he investigated the presence of gangs within the El Maneadero canton the place Johana and her household reside for 3 years, and concluded that the members of the family are “sincere and hardworking folks, respectful of every kind of authority.”

The police agent even corroborated Francisco and Maribel’s story that the household “was the sufferer of threats and extortion” by the Barrio 18 Revolucionarios, and that the household house was shot at as a result of the gang members suspected Maribel of being a PNC informant.

Along with the affidavit of the agent of the Particular Response Pressure, additionally they obtained a number of testimonies from officers and neighborhood members confirming that she has no relationship in any respect with gangs.

The native head of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal motion, Juan Carlos Barahona, additionally signed and sealed a doc that defines Johana as “a really devoted individual and servant of our Catholic congregation” and that she was a part of the choir all through her adolescence.

And even a mayor of Nuevas Concepts, Bukele’s get together, defended Johana’s innocence in a letter on his letterhead. 

“I’ve recognized of her since she was a toddler, and she or he has all the time been devoted to house and research,” stated Nicolas Antonio Garcia Alfaro, mayor of Tecoluca.

However Johana continues to be detained. She has been locked up in Apanteos for greater than 9 months. 

Nobody from the household, not even the lawyer, has spoken to her since she was taken away. The final they heard was that she was being held in Sector 3 of the jail in San Juan, a very harsh space with minimal entry to water, in line with her family members.

Hundreds of Harmless Individuals Imprisoned

In line with estimates by Socorro Jurídico Humanitario (SJH), a company that gives authorized, psychological, and medical assist to regime victims, Johana is only one of 15,000 harmless folks nonetheless locked up. 

“And every single day we proceed to obtain 10 to fifteen new circumstances of individuals whose family members had not sought assist as a result of they nonetheless had, let’s say, the concept of leaving issues to the need of God, or who trusted somewhat within the system,” stated SJH director Ingrid Escobar.

SEE ALSO: How El Salvador’s Police Creates, Makes use of Its Gang Database

“We alone have registered some 1,500 circumstances of innocents, with names and surnames, of which solely 33 have been launched,” Escobar added.

Along with SJH, different entities that maintain data are Cristosal, the Human Rights Institute of the College of Central America (Instituto de Derechos Humanos de la Universidad Centroamericana – Idhuca), Tutela Authorized Dr. María Julía Hernández, the Heart for Change and Solidarity (Centro de Intercambio y Solidaridad – CIS) and the Motion of Victims of the Regime (Movimiento de Víctimas del Régimen – MOVIR). 

“We imagine that each one the detainees who’ve nonetheless not been convicted after as much as a 12 months and a half of investigation are harmless.” stated Samuel Ramirez, consultant of MOVIR. 

“At the very least 30% of the folks detained through the emergency regime are harmless,” he added. 

Thirty p.c of the 73,271 that the PNC claims to have captured as of September 30, 2023, equals greater than 22,000 folks. 

Safety Minister Gustavo Villatoro stated on August 22 in a tv interview that by that date, there have been “somewhat greater than 7,000 who’ve been launched from these greater than 72,000” detainees. 

“The justice system is working,” the minister stated in the identical interview.

The federal government’s muscular propaganda equipment continues to focus on the advances within the combat towards gangs in an excessively triumphalist tone. However on the similar time, the federal government makes arbitrary detentions invisible. The official discourse has not subtracted the 7,000 harmless folks freed as much as August from the whole variety of arrests, and the Bukele administration continues to talk of greater than 73,000 “terrorists” detained.

Household Additionally Persecuted

On October 2, Johana’s household — Francisco, Maribel, and two sisters — took the package deal of meals and private hygiene merchandise to the Apanteos jail. The canton of El Maneadero is so far-off that they needed to hire a pickup truck and depart early within the morning to return at evening.

Visting the jail is likely one of the many bills the household has needed to assume since Johana’s arrest. They’ve additionally needed to pay for her lawyer, journeys to take care of paperwork, deposits to her jail commissary account (which they do religiously despite the fact that they don’t know if the cash makes it to their daughter), and plenty of different bills.

“It’s costing us $525 a month, it’s as if the federal government is stealing that cash from me,” stated Maribel with contained rage. 

The bills are assumed by two of Johana’s brothers and the daddy of her daughter, who migrated to america and ship remittances. With out this assist, they might not meet the bills of the arbitrary detention.

In the meantime, Johana’s daughter, who has not seen her mom for the reason that morning of January 17, turned 4 years previous in September. Francisco and Maribel have six kids and 5 grandchildren. A five-foot poster of the just lately canonized saint, Monsignor Óscar Arnulfo Romero, presides over the home’s predominant room.

“Whether it is already very troublesome for the dad and mom from the psychological perspective, you’ll be able to’t think about how complicated it’s to work with the youngsters,” stated German Cerros, an Idhuca psychologist.

The day the household traveled to the penitentiary heart to ship the package deal, they have been unable to see Johana, a lot much less discuss to her. 

“We’re hopeful that she continues to be alive,” stated Francisco.

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