A new report which claims dozens of prisoners were tortured and killed in jail after being caught up in the year-long security crackdown.

The detailed 107-page report from human rights group Cristosal said at least 153 people had died in custody after being arrested as part of President Nayib Bukele’s year-long offensive against the Central American country’s notorious “pandillas”.

The NGO said it had confirmed 29 of those fatalities as violent deaths and another 46 were considered. In most of those 75 cases, Cristosal said the bodies of the victims showed signs of torture, beatings or strangulation. Other dead prisoners also showed signs of injuries but were classified as having died of “undetermined” or “natural” causes, meaning the true number of violent deaths could be higher.

Cristosal’s director, Noah Bullock, said its findings highlighted how human rights violations were “a systematic practice rather than an exception” under El Salvador’s current government.

The human rights group based its report on interviews with dozens of relatives of the deceased and former prisoners, as well as official forensic reports and field work.

El Salvador’s government has rejected criticism of its anti-gang campaign, which has seen more than 67,000 people arrested since it began in March 2022. It dismisses critical NGOs and media organizations as defenders of gangs and “terrorists”.