
El Salvador’s armed forces arrested 24-year-old Dalila Johana Flores in January 2023. She remained imprisoned, with no way to contact either her family or her lawyer, for 309 days under El Salvador’s state of emergency – even though the state had access to conclusive documentation proving her innocence just days after her arrest.
In late October, InSight Crime investigated her case, showing that there was no evidence whatsoever that she had links to El Salvador’s gangs targeted by the state of emergency. Four weeks after the investigation was published, Johana was freed. Civil society groups have credited InSight Crime’s investigation for the review of Johana’s case and her subsequent release, but there are likely many more people in a similar situation.