The Movement of Victims of the Regime (MOVIR) protested at the gates of the Presidential Palace on August 16, commemorating the group’s second anniversary. In a summer marked by international reports and hearings documenting human rights violations, the action highlighted MOVIR’s persistence and its central role in visibilizing the atrocities of Bukele’s State of Exception.

While marches are often intercepted by riot police barricades, the August 16 protest reached the Presidential Palace by catching authorities off guard. “We wanted to get to the Presidential Palace. We had already been to almost all the government institutions, but we still hadn't gone to the Presidential Palace and [..] they always meet us with barricades. So one group of us gathered at the Savior of the World monument to attract attention while another went to the Presidential Palace, getting there quickly so they wouldn't block us,” said Samuel Ramirez, a MOVIR spokesperson.

MOVIR was founded a few months into the 2022 State of Exception by activists in the Popular Rebellion and Resistance Bloc (BRP), who accompanied the August 16 protest, in response to the needs of family members of those unjustly arrested under Bukele’s State of Exception. The organization mobilizes material aid and has created a strong network of information sharing based on the experiences of its membership (parents, partners, family and friends of those unjustly detained). MOVIR also organizes regular street protests including during El Salvador’s biggest international events.  MOVIR’s statement marking the date describes “two years of constant denunciation, mobilization and struggle in defense of freedom and personal integrity, presumption of innocence, due process, the right to a technical defense, health care, and respect for life. Two years of struggle demanding the institutions of justice and human rights…act in favor of the victims.”

In 2023, the group protested during the Miss Universe pageant, undermining the government’s attempts to whitewash the country’s image. Protesters averted several heavily-armed blockades, attempting to reach the Intercontinental Hotel, where the event was being held. By forcing the deployment of a highly militarized response just blocks from one of the country's most exclusive hotels, the protest succeeded in exposing levels of militarization most often used in marginalized and rural communities targeted under the State of Exception.

Despite a suspension of civil liberties– including the right to assemble– during the State of Exception, MOVIR has continued to protest. The May 30 arrests of the leadership of the National Alliance for a Peaceful El Salvador, in the lead up to planned peaceful protests of Bukele’s unconstitutional inauguration, has not deterred them. On July 19, following the release of a report by El Salvador-based human rights organization Cristosal, which alleges possible crimes against humanity under the State of Exception, MOVIR mobilized to the offices of the Presidential Commissioner for Human Rights and Freedom of Expression, Andrés Guzmán. Dozens of MOVIR mothers, wives, and family members of regime victims once again overcame police blockades to arrive at the offices and presented 77 cases of people incarcerated under the State of Exception that have chronic illnesses or whose release orders have not been honored.

The work of MOVIR and many other Salvadoran human rights defense groups, like Cristosal, exposes the realities in El Salvador to the world. A July 16 report released by Human Rights Watch on the State of Exception described “severe human rights violations against children of low-income communities,” and the arrest of 3,000 children, including several who have died in custody. It could also make it increasingly difficult for the U.S. government to maintain its position of ongoing support for Bukele and its near silence regarding the State of Exception. A rarely seen expression of concern from the U.S. government regarding the measure circulated online in August after the U.S. Embassy's Human Rights Office requested information regarding the number of people still in detention despite having release orders.

Most recently, a September 4 Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) report called for an end to the State of Exception, mass trials with anonymous judges, and automatic pre-trial detention, recommendations that mirror demands made in MOVIR’s two-year anniversary statement.

The report follows a July IACHR hearing in which human rights organizations, including MOVIR, presented evidence of torture and human rights violations committed by the government. According to MOVIR’s Ramirez, “The State of Exception has violated human rights in El Salvador for over two years. We have seen people die in prisons, some with signs of torture. Babies born in prison have died from a lack of medical attention. The government continues to deny these atrocities, as well as due process."

As the awareness grows internationally of the human rights abuses under the regime, MOVIR gears up to mobilize this weekend alongside the BRP to continue their call for freedom for victims of the regime and for political prisoners and for the right to a dignified life for all Salvadorans.