Amnesty International warned in a press release on Tuesday that Salvadoran human rights activist Fidel Zavala faces an immediate risk of torture. Amnesty urge Salvadoran authorities to protect Zavala’s physical and psychological safety and ensure all those detained receive a fair trial with the proper procedural guarantees.

Zavala is a spokesperson for the human rights organization Unidad de Defensa de Derechos Humanos y Comunitarios (UNIDEHC) and has previously denounced the Salvadoran authorities’ use of torture in penitentiary centers. He was arrested along with over 20 others in February when authorities raided the headquarters of UNIDEHC and the home of the organization’s director. Zavala had previously been detained for 13 months under similar pretenses and wrote firsthand accounts of the abuses he witnessed. He has since been transferred to a new facility operated by the same guards he filed a formal complaint against. In the complaint, Zavala alleges to have witnessed bribery, torture, as well as several murders committed by guards.

El Salvador has been in a state of emergency since 2022 due to gang violence, suspending constitutional freedoms and forcing tens of thousands into “deplorable conditions.” Amnesty International has previously accused El Salvador of ignoring human rights obligations under the state of emergency as well as escalating state repression.

The conditions within Salvadoran penitentiaries have gained significant attention since the United States’ mass deportation initiative of Venezuelan migrants to El Salvador. More recently, the accidental and unlawful deportation of Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia has caused significant alarm in the US over the dire consequences of the rushed procedures.