San Salvador, February 9 (RHC)-- Several human rights organizations denounced more than 4,500 arbitrary detentions carried out by El Salvador's police forces during the state of emergency implemented to fight gangs, local media reported Wednesday. 

According to sources associated with these agencies, there are already about 4,564 complaints of abuses committed by the police in the framework of the moratorium on constitutional freedoms, especially by young women arbitrarily detained.

According to the Cristosal platform, they "respond to these facts by seeking solutions for immediate needs, but also for the improvement of family conditions," it said.  The agency pointed out that the youth "continue to be one of the most stigmatized sectors of the population during the emergency regime", since most of the denunciations of these multilateral organizations are made by people between 18 and 30 years old.

The entity also highlighted that the LGTBIQ+ community has been victim of "serious cases of police harassment, sexual violence or insults exercised by state security agents."

Likewise, a call was made to civil society and supranational organizations in favor of the 254 people suffering from chronic illnesses who remain in detention, without adequate medical attention, despite the claims filed within the established channels.

The Salvadoran government justifies the establishment of the state of exception, approved to make the fight against criminal gangs viable, and its Territorial Control policy with the 57 percent drop in the homicide rate in 2022.

The institutions that collected the complaints are Cristosal, Amate, Red Salvadoreña de Defensoras de Derecho Humanos, Instituto de Derechos Humanos de la Universidad Centroamérica (Idhuca), Fundación de Estudios para la Aplicación del Derecho (Fespad), Servicio Social Pasionista (SSPAS) and Azul Originario (AZO).