Those who reproduce gang messages will be punished with jail

Families leave their home fleeing gangs in El Salvador 2:03

(CNN Spanish) --

The Legislative Assembly of El Salvador approved a reform to the Penal Code to punish with 10 to 15 years in prison those who create or collaborate in the making of paintings, texts, designs, drawings or any other form of visual expression in real estate for public or private use that alludes to gangs or conveys threats to the population.

The reform, approved with 63 of 84 possible votes and at the request of President Nayib Bukele, also covers the media and those who, using communication technologies, reproduce and transmit messages or communications from criminal organizations to generate anxiety or panic.

“When the Germans wanted to eradicate Nazism, they prohibited by law all Nazi symbols, as well as messages, apologies and everything that was aimed at promoting Nazism.

Nobody said anything, it was understandable that it was like that.

Now we will do that with the gangs,” President Nayib Bukele assured in a message on Twitter.

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“These groups seek to delimit, with their drawings, the areas where they commit crimes, threaten with messages and encourage our children and young people to join these groups.

This is something that we are not going to allow,” said Francisco Villatoro, a deputy from the ruling New Ideas party.

The opposition criticized the reform because it included the media and asked, unsuccessfully, to suppress that part.

"Our parliamentary group does not agree because there is a clear violation of the right to the press and freedom of information," said René Portillo Cuadra, a deputy for the conservative Alianza Republicana Nacionalista, Arena.

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“This article does not come to censor.

The intention of disseminating the message is what will determine whether or not the law is violated,” said Marcela Pineda, also a deputy for Nuevas Ideas.

File photo.

A former member of the MS-13 gang at the Santa Ana prison, 60 km northwest of San Salvador, on May 21, 2019. (Credit: OSCAR RIVERA/AFP via Getty Images)

Worrying and unnecessary reform, according to the Association of Journalists

The president of the Association of Journalists of El Salvador, César Castro Fagoaga, believes that the reform approved by the Assembly, with an official majority, is unnecessary and worrying.

"It seeks to try to censor and that the media does not talk about the gangs," Castro told CNN in a telephone interview.

For Castro, the reform does not define who will decide and evaluate whether there is fraud in a publication and, in his opinion, that affects journalistic work.

"If the gangs decided to talk about the pact they had with the government, this reform could not be reported," he added.

In 2020, the Attorney General's Office opened an investigation to determine if the current administration had an agreement with the gangs to reduce homicides in exchange for prison benefits.

However, the Government has rejected this possibility and has attributed the decrease in violence to its security plan.

"These gag reforms are a new tool to criminalize journalistic work, an alarming trend that the APES has been pointing out," the journalists' union organization said in a statement.

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Families leave their home fleeing gangs in El Salvador 2:03

War on gangs in El Salvador

Until this Tuesday, the Ministry of Justice and Security of El Salvador reported the capture of 6,894 people investigated for alleged acts of terrorism.

On March 27, the Legislative Assembly of El Salvador approved a state of emergency throughout the country to deal with the rise in homicides, driven by the Barrio 18 and MS-13 gangs, after the Government reported 62 murders on March 26 alone. March.

Constitutional rights, including freedom of association and the right to defense are suspended for 30 days.

The authorities can also intercept telephone calls without the need to be authorized by a judge.

In addition, the term of administrative detention was increased from 72 hours to 15 days.

The Legislative Assembly also approved reforms that toughen the penalties for some crimes when they are committed by gang members.

Several international human rights organizations have expressed their concern because they consider that the measures implemented are repressive and will not solve the problem of public insecurity.

President Nayib Bukele, in response, accuses these organizations of defending the gangs.

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