Human Rights Watch reports deficiencies in hospital staff’s treatment of El Salvador’s security adviser – JURIST

On Tuesday, Human Rights Watch released a report detailing its findings into the death of Alejandro Muyshondt. The former security adviser to both the El Salvador government and President Nayib Bukele died in February this year while he was imprisoned for drug trafficking in August last year. Muyshondt was allegedly the victim of an enforced disappearance before his death was reported. The report found that medical staff failed to provide evidence of the diagnosis in Muyshondt’s more than 2,000 pages of medical records and did not conduct a transparent or proper death investigation. In addition, the medical records were full of gaps and inconsistencies. Juanita Goebertus Estrada, tThe Americas director of Human Rights Watch said: “The expert analysis reveals deeply worrying deficiencies in the treatment of Alejandro Muyshondt and the subsequent investigation into his death.” Estrada further clarified that this is consistent with a broader pattern of human rights abuses in El Salvador.

The team that prepared the report was “T“The Independent Forensic Expert Group”, which is made up of 42 forensic experts from 23 different nations. They are the global standard for recognizing torture and other medical malpractice. In their findings they also explained the circumstances that led to Muyshondt’s arrest. This included accusing a deputy loyal to the president of corruption, money laundering and drug trafficking. He also made allegations against the press secretary that Mr Bukele was corrupt. This led to his arrest and a charge of forgery. From the beginning, he was held incommunicado and his family was denied any information about his whereabouts and status. This was made more difficult by the fact that his cases were considered a national security risk due to his job and the information he had. Estrada continued that the government is not allowing a full investigation and is not giving clear answers Muyshondt’s fate should lead to closer scrutiny of the human rights situation in El Salvador.

El Salvador has been under near-constant criticism for its human rights abuses since the “war on gangs” began in 2022. This has significantly changed the way El Salvador deals with criminals, with mass arrests and imprisonment becoming commonplace. With this massive increase in arrests, the risk of wrongful incarceration increases, and the massive prison complex that must incarcerate over 50,000 new inmates poses several problems. Accordingly According to Cristosal, a Central American human rights group, over 250 inmates have died in prisons since 2022. This prompted the UN Human Rights Council to investigate El Salvador in its upcoming Universal Periodic Review.