The trial is part of President Nayib Bukele's iron fist approach against criminal groups, which has been supported by a state of emergency in effect for four years. The state of exception, imposed in March 2022, has suspended fundamental rights including the right to be informed of the reasons for detention and the right to access legal counsel. Security forces can intercept telecommunications without a court order, and detention without a preliminary hearing has been extended from 72 hours to 15 days, according to multiple reports.
Human rights groups have criticized the mass trial as infringing on due process. Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have raised concerns, and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights said it 'maintains serious worries about the impact on human rights by the unjustified and excessive prolongation of the state of exception in El Salvador' and called on the government to end the measure. UN experts have said mass trials 'undermine the exercise of the right to defense and the presumption of innocence of detainees,' according to a statement. Attorney General Rodolfo Delgado defended the proceedings, stating on social media: 'For years, this structure has operated systematically, causing fear and mourning among Salvadoran families.'
For years, this structure has operated systematically, causing fear and mourning among Salvadoran families.
The gang leaders are being tried in an open hearing at an Organized Crime Court under a 2023 reform of El Salvador’s Penal Code, according to major media reports. Of the 486 defendants, 413 are being held at the Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT), a maximum-security prison that Bukele ordered built. Many defendants watched the proceedings virtually from the prison, according to reports. Another 73 alleged gang members are being prosecuted in absentia, as permitted by law, the Attorney General's office confirmed.
El Salvador once had one of the highest homicide rates in the world, with 103 homicides per 100,000 inhabitants in 2015. Since Bukele took office in 2019, government statistics show a drastic drop in homicides. In the first such collective trial in March 2025, 52 members of the Barrio 18 gang were sentenced to up to 245 years in prison, according to major media reports.
Mass trials undermine the exercise of the right to defense and the presumption of innocence of detainees.
In a related development in the United States, three MS-13 leaders were sentenced to life in prison for RICO conspiracy and murder. Wilson Arturo Constanza-Galdomez, Edis Omar Valenzuela-Rodriguez, and Jonathan Pesquera-Puerto were convicted for their roles in the gang, according to research from two sources. Acting Assistant Attorney General Matthew R. Galeotti said the defendants committed murder and stabbing of young women and girls to advance in MS-13. Research indicates that MS-13 members are organized into cliques and required to commit violence to increase status, and one principal rule is to attack and kill rivals known as 'chavalas'. The gang maintained a rivalry with the 18th Street Gang in Baltimore. On April 25, 2020, Constanza-Galdomez, Valenzuela-Rodriguez, and others assaulted a man, according to research.
The trial in El Salvador is expected to last months, though no official timeline has been given. It remains unclear how many of the 486 defendants will be convicted, what specific evidence will be presented, and whether the state of emergency will be extended further.
The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights maintains serious worries about the impact on human rights by the unjustified and excessive prolongation of the state of exception in El Salvador and calls on the government to end the measure.