El Salvador: OIAD takes part in a fact-finding mission on the situation of the legal profession in the country
In June 2026, an international mission of seven legal professionals travelled to El Salvador to assess the state of the free practice of the legal profession and the safeguards for the rule of law in the country. The delegation included representatives from the Biscay Bar Association (member of the OIAD), the OIAD itself, “Juezas y Jueces para la Democracia”, the Progressive Union of Public Prosecutors, the Spanish Association for Human Rights (APDHE) and the Euskadi Peace and Solidarity Foundation.
During the visit, the delegation met with practising lawyers, professional organisations, judges, as well as victims and relatives of victims of the state of emergency in force since 2022. Requests for meetings were sent to the Office of the Human Rights Ombudsman, the Office of the Attorney General of the Republic, the Supreme Court of Justice, and the Office of the Prosecutor General of the Republic. None of these institutions responded to the request.
At the end of the mission, the delegation held a press conference during which it presented the main preliminary findings of the visit. As stated in the press release, the information gathered during the mission shows that the independent practice of the legal profession is currently seriously hindered in El Salvador, particularly in cases of public significance or involving alleged human rights violations. Numerous testimonies were collected describing restrictions on the exercise of the right of defence, as well as situations of surveillance, harassment, and smear campaigns, particularly on social media, targeting male and female lawyers, as well as anyone who dares to denounce these violations. In some cases, these pressures have led to the arrest or forced exile of those concerned.
One of the main sources of concern identified by the mission is the interference of the executive branch in the judiciary. The removal of the judges of the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court, the time limit imposed on judicial appointments, the compulsory retirement decreed in 2021 for judges and magistrates over the age of 60 or with 30 years of service, as well as the dismissal or transfer of those who adopt critical positions, constitute a persistent pattern of executive control over the judiciary that undermines its independence.
With regard to the right to a fair trial and the right of defence, particularly serious violations were identified:
- Collective hearings involving several hundred defendants being prosecuted simultaneously, making any individualised defence impossible.
- Arbitrary detention and unjustified delays in the processing of habeas corpus applications.
- Failure to provide families and lawyers with information about the place of detention and the situation of persons deprived of their liberty.
- Abusive use of investigative secrecy and delays in notifying release orders.
- Convictions based solely on incriminating testimony from witnesses benefiting from the status of cooperating witnesses, in flagrant violation of the presumption of innocence.
- An expansive and imprecise criminal law directed against certain groups, which has gone so far as to permit life imprisonment sentences for minors.
The mission stressed that the successive extensions of the state of emergency, which have continued for more than four years, have consolidated a climate of widespread vulnerability. Instruments such as the Foreign Agents Law are used to criminalise human rights defenders, lawyers, and judges who are critical of the government. This is compounded by harassment, whether by the police, institutions, or anonymously through social media, which is particularly intense against women human rights defenders and which, in many cases, has ultimately forced them into exile.
Finally, the testimonies gathered regarding the situation of persons deprived of their liberty are particularly alarming: overcrowding, lack of hygiene, unsafe food, the spread of contagious diseases, and the absence of medical care and medicines. Families themselves are required to provide clothing, food, and medicines for detainees. Physical and psychological ill-treatment, unpaid labour, and the absence of any system of visits or communication with relatives and lawyers were also reported.
These findings are preliminary and are presented here for illustrative purposes. The mission is already working on a detailed report that will analyse each of these issues in depth, providing a more comprehensive assessment of the situation, together with recommendations addressed to the authorities and the international community.
