The report indicates corruption, human rights violations and manipulation of data on people murdered by COVID-19. These are the main conclusions and recommendations of the special committee.
The special commission investigating the pandemic’s response on Monday revealed in a report the key findings it had found when analyzing how the government was dealing with the pandemic and the recommendations it is making based on these elements.
Among the information analyzed by the parliamentarians are the causes of death of health workers during the pademic, in connection with this they emphasized that the Ministry of Health and the ISSS have not provided the necessary and appropriate biosafety equipment for patient care with COVID-19.
The committee also recommends that Bukele dismiss Health Secretary Francisco Alabí for irregularities and “conflicts of interest” in dealing with the pandemic.
The deputies conclude that the data of people who died from COVID-19 has been manipulated; that human rights were violated in the detention centers; that there was corruption in the transfer of $ 25 million from Social Security to El Salvador Hospital and that public works did not meet the deadline needed to complete Phase III of the COVID Special Hospital .
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The special commission summarized in 14 items the shortcomings and violations by the government that they were able to identify during the pandemic.
1) The executive branch systematically carried out irregular actions affecting the treatment, prevention and control of the COVID-19 pandemic in El Salvador.
2) It was found that the central government did not have and does not have a comprehensive management plan for the pandemic to date.
3) President Nayib Bukele, through the Ministry of Health, lied, manipulated, and misrepresented when it suited him, data on deceased individuals, confirmed cases, and conducted tests for COVID-19 during the pandemic.
4) The ISSS provided the Executive with a $ 25 million loan for Hospital El Salvador. The way the money is paid back to the insurance is not defined.
Most of the front personnel killed did not have the biosecurity supplies to deal with the pandemic. Photo file
5) Bukele used the national radio and television networks to “exaggerate and manipulate the mathematical projections on the evolution of the disease”, to “spread fear and terror to discipline the population”.
6) The killed frontline personnel were infected because Health and the ISSS failed to provide them with the necessary and appropriate biosecurity equipment in time to care for COVID-19 patients.
7) The MOP missed the deadline for the completion of the construction project for Phase III of Hospital El Salvador, which was scheduled for the end of July 2020.
8) The Department of Tourism, which was responsible for renting out the properties to serve as “containment centers”, has signed a lease with a cousin of the Secretary of Health for $ 18,850.
9) After listening to the mayors of the municipalities where the government installed “sanitary” fences, it is concluded that they were constructed without technical criteria, for partisan political purposes, improvised and without consultation with the mayors.
In addition, El Salvador has seen an explosion of irregularities and corruption cases during a pandemic, Transparency International says
10) El Salvador Hospital, despite being an exclusive care center for COVID patients, does not have the necessary RT-PCR tests to screen health personnel or people recovering there.
11) The government did not adhere to the identification and subsequent recruitment of people classified by the Department of Health as “immunized for the disease”.
12) It was found that the executive in the containment centers violated and did not guarantee the right to property, physical and mental health, knowledge of their medical records, physical and moral integrity and other rights.
13) The lack of a plan at the time of the closure of the Comalapa International Airport caused disarray in the facilities, mixing passengers from different countries, exacerbating the pandemic situation.
14) It was found that the president of ISRI and the director of the Asilo Sara Zaldívar do not know the diagnosis and location of more than 50 residents referred to the hospital network by the Ministry of Health.
The recommendations are:
I. To the President of the Republic of Nayib Armando Bukele Ortez, are ministers and deputy ministers and other public officials who belong to the executive branch and who fulfill the mandate given to them by the constitution in article 86, in particular with regard to to cooperation with each other.
II. To the President of the Republic, Nayib Armando Bukele Ortez, the resignation of the Minister of Health because of the irregularities and conflicts of interest identified.
III. It is up to the president of the republic, ministers and deputy ministers, and other public officials in the executive branch, that the blockades of epidemiological public information will cease.
IV. The Health Minister is asked to carry out technical sanitary work, aside from any political tendency that is detrimental to the human rights of Salvadorans.
V. To the Director of the ISSS, who respects the institution in which she directs, recognizing that it is a benefit composed of contributions from employees, employers and in a minimum percentage of the state. That the institution is not a financial institution or small money of the government, that the health of 28% of the population is its responsibility because they are employees and contribute to the ISSS. That the ISSS is an independent institution of the National Government, which is established in Article 50 of the Constitution and Article 1 of the ISSS Act.
SAW. To the President of the Salvadoran Institute for Comprehensive Rehabilitation and the Director of the Sara Zaldívar Center for Elderly Care, who have authority over the institution they manage and who under their sole responsibility is the life and health of the residents Center, which it is inconceivable that to date they do not know the whereabouts of more than 50 older adults in their care.
VII. Explain this report to the Legislative Assembly to that effect to the Attorney General of the Republic, the Ethics Tribunal of the Government and the Court of Auditors of the Republic and attach the audio and transcripts of the meetings of the Special Commission of the days 5 January and 18 of this year, to investigate the possible commission of crimes established in Articles 326 and 327 of the Criminal Code, Misappropriation by Culpability, Concussion by the Minister of Health respectively, in the process and contracting a ‘property as a Containment House for COVID-19 “of Mr. José Ángel Montoya Quiñónez. And the 82-page report we received from the Ministry of Tourism is being sent.
VIII. To the Legislative Assembly, to certify copies of this report to the following international organizations: the Pan American Health Organization, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Human Rights Watch, the United States Congress and the United States Senate States.
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IX. In this sense, the Legislative Assembly certifies the report to the Public Prosecution Service and the Government Ethics Tribunal to investigate the possible commission of crimes by the President of the Salvadoran Institute of Comprehensive Rehabilitation and Director of Elderly Sara Zaldívar, regarding the fact that they do not know the location or health status of 51 older adults who were under her care.
X. Explain this report to the Legislative Assembly within the meaning of the Public Prosecution Service, the Government Ethics Tribunal and the Court of Auditors of the Republic, to investigate the possible commission of crimes by the Board of Directors and the current director of the Salvadoran Institute of Social Security, in connection with the $ 25 million loan provided to the central government.
1,750 deaths from COVID-19 and 58,023 infections
The report was released as El Salvador hit 1,750 deaths from the coronavirus, killing eight more on Sunday, while confirmed infections amount to more than 58,023, according to official data updated this Monday.
Between January 2 and February 14 this year, there were 399 deaths from COVID-19, and the days when the most deaths were counted are still last month’s 13 and 19, with 12 deaths per day, according to the data hosted on the site covid19.gob.sv/diarios.
Presidential commissioner Carolina Recinos said in a televised interview on Monday that the government is “waiting” for the acceleration of vaccine imports. However, a specific date for their entry into the country has not yet been provided.