Thousands of innocent people jailed in El Salvadors gang crackdown

Amna Nawaz:

His stepfather, Victor, remains in prison. Police said he had a criminal record for petty crime decades ago, but Patricia denies any gang ties. She showed us documents she's filed for his release, dismissed by the court.

Patricia has been gathering as many character testimonies, letters of recommendation from her church, from his employer, where he worked for 22 years. She's been submitting all of this to the courts, but so far they have made no difference.

Victor was swept up as part of president Nayib Bukele crackdown on the gangs that have terrorized El Salvador. For more than two decades, warring factions of the MS-13 and 18th Street gangs killed and extorted civilians with impunity, turning El Salvador into the murder capital of the world.

Nelson Rauda Zablah is the digital editor of El Faro, an acclaimed national investigative.

Nelson Rauda Zablah , Digital Editor, El Faro: For the people who live under gang-controlled communities, for the people who use public transportation, for the people who maybe just was in the wrong place in the wrong time, it was unbearable.

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