NGOs Reveal Dozens of Political Prisoners Under Bukele's Rule

International non-governmental organizations have published a shocking report revealing the existence of at least 86 political prisoners in Salvadoran prisons. This data, collected by Amnesty International and the local organization Socorro Jurídico, was made public in the first days of March 2026. According to the documentation, these individuals are being held for political reasons, and their arrests are linked to social, journalistic, or human rights defense activities, particularly on sensitive issues such as reproductive rights. El Salvador has one of the most restrictive anti-abortion laws in the world, where abortion is banned without exceptions, even in cases of rape, incest, or threat to the mother's life. This law, enacted in 1998, has led to women being convicted for miscarriages, which has been repeatedly condemned by international human rights bodies.Among the revealed cases, the stories of several dozen women sentenced to prison terms of 30 to 50 years for miscarriages are particularly striking. Authorities classify these events as homicides, but human rights defenders point out that they were natural miscarriages, and the charges are a form of repression against poor women and activists demanding legal change. „Estos no son delincuentes. Son víctimas de un sistema de justicia que ha sido usado como herramienta política para silenciar voces disidentes.” (These are not criminals. They are victims of a justice system that has been used as a political tool to silence dissenting voices.) — Rafael López, lawyer with Socorro Jurídico The country's president, Nayib Bukele, and his administration firmly reject these allegations. The government's official position states that there are no political prisoners in El Salvador, and all individuals held in prisons have been convicted of common crimes, such as gang membership, drug trafficking, or murder. The government emphasizes the spectacular success in reducing crime thanks to the "iron fist" policy, which since 2022, under the guise of a state of emergency, has allowed for the arrest of over 75 thousand people. An analysis of the cases presented in the report, however, shows a different picture. The majority of the 86 identified individuals were arrested after the state of emergency was imposed. Among them are investigative journalists writing about corruption, environmental activists protesting mining projects, land defenders from indigenous communities, and the aforementioned women convicted for miscarriages. Judicial procedures in their cases were, according to NGO documentation, marred by serious violations: denial of access to a lawyer, use of testimony obtained under pressure, lack of material evidence, and trials before courts whose independence is questioned following judicial purges carried out by Bukele. 75 tys. — People arrested since 2022 under the state of emergency The issue of political prisoners erupts at a crucial moment for El Salvador's image on the international stage. President Bukele, despite authoritarian moves, still enjoys immense domestic popularity due to a drastic drop in murder rates. However, the international community, including UN bodies and inter-American human rights protection systems, is beginning to express growing concern about the erosion of democratic guarantees more loudly. The publication of the report by such reputable organizations as Amnesty International gives these concerns a concrete, documented dimension and poses a serious reputational challenge for the Bukele regime.