Statement at the 59th Session of the UN Human Rights Council
Adoption of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) report of El Salvador
Delivered by Olimjon Bakhtaliev, CIVICUS
Mr President.
CIVICUS welcomes the government of El Salvador’s engagement with the UPR.
Since its last review, El Salvador has not implemented the nine accepted recommendations related to civic space. CIVICUS is concerned about the regression observed in the current cycle, during which the state has accepted only five out of 18 recommendations concerning civic space. This weakens its previously stated commitment to uphold fundamental freedoms.
Rather than advancing toward the protection of civic space, El Salvador has intensified its repression of human rights defenders, journalists, and CSOs. The country has remained in a prolonged state of emergency for over three years, under which the environment has become increasingly hostile to the exercise of fundamental civic freedoms. Alarming cases of criminalisation targeting HRDs have recently been documented.
A further assault on civic space is the recent adoption of the Foreign Agents Law, which requires any individual or entity receiving foreign funding to register as a “foreign agent.” The law falls short of international legal requirements for regulating non-profit organisations, granting the state broad discretion to approve, deny or revoke registrations, imposing a punitive 30 per cent tax on funds, and authorizing excessive sanctions. We are gravely concerned that the legislation will significantly restrict access to financing and the overall operations of civil society, which largely relies on international funding, leading to the criminalisation of legitimate activities.
We urge the Government of El Salvador to uphold its international human rights obligations by taking immediate and concrete steps to ensure a safe and enabling environment for civil society. In this regard, the repeal of the Foreign Agents Law and the immediate release of all people arbitrarily detained must be carried out without delay.
We thank you.
