News: El Salvador
  • Aug 8, 2009

    El Salvador's attorney general should conduct a prompt, thorough, and impartial investigation of the murder of the community leader and environmental advocate Gustavo Marcelo Rivera Moreno, as well as subsequent threats against journalists and human rights defenders.

    Press release
  • Jul 30, 2007

    The government of El Salvador should dismiss terrorism charges brought against protesters who allegedly blocked roads and threw stones at a July 2 demonstration, Human Rights Watch said today.

    Press release
  • Jul 27, 2006

    Domestic workers face a wide range of grave abuses and labor exploitation, including physical and sexual abuse, forced confinement, non-payment of wages, denial of food and health care and excessive working hours with no rest days.

    Press release
  • Sep 12, 2005

    Children around the world face systematic barriers to schooling that are undermining global progress towards universal primary education.

    Press release
  • Jul 26, 2005

    The U.S. House of Representatives will likely vote before the end of this week on the U.S.-Dominican Republic-Central America Free Trade Agreement (DR-CAFTA). The House should reject the accord for falling short on workers' human rights because it does not require countries to protect women workers from discrimination or to have laws that meet international labor standards.

    Commentary
  • Jun 9, 2004

    Businesses purchasing sugar from El Salvador, including The Coca-Cola Company, are using the product of child labor that is both hazardous and widespread, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today.

    Press release
  • Jan 14, 2004

    Tens of thousands of girls in El Salvador work as domestics, a form of labor that makes them particularly vulnerable to physical abuse and sexual harassment, Human Rights Watch charged in a report released today.

    Press release
  • Dec 3, 2003

    Workers' human rights in El Salvador are systematically violated by employers while the government disregards or even facilitates the abuses, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. From December 8-12, El Salvador will be participating in the final round of negotiations for the U.S.-Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA), a proposed trade pact with profound implications for labor rights.

    Press release
  • Jul 31, 2003

    This week the United States and Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua have been conducting the sixth of nine negotiating rounds for a U.S.-Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA). The United States has already proposed labor rights provisions for CAFTA similar to those in the U.S free trade agreements with Chile and Singapore. But those are the wrong models.

    Commentary
  • Jul 31, 2003

    The Bush administration is quietly carrying on a major new trade negotiation with Central America that could show -- contrary to the notion that globalization hurts workers -- how international trade deals can increase respect for labor rights. But the Bush team must get the right formula into its briefing books.

    Commentary