El Salvador Mass-Arrested 70,000 People, But the Miss Universe Pageant Looked the Other Way

For the 72nd Miss Universe pageant held in November 2023, officials selected El Salvador to host the event. This is in spite of the fact that a humanitarian calamity has been occurring there since March 2022 - involving the government conducting mass arrests.

This is part of a larger government project that has involved the arrest of more than 70,000 people in the past two years.

Meanwhile, the Miss Universe pageant and international audiences don't seem to have cared much. Sign the petition to demand the Miss Universe CEO Amy Emmerich condemn these mass arrests and apologize for the pageant's complicity!

Human rights organizations say many of the arrests are arbitrary or politically-motivated, meaning innocent people have been thrown in jail. Even worse, experts say these crackdowns have led to torture - and even deaths at detention facilities.

In response to the overwhelming arrests, upwards of 300 people turned out to protest on the day of the Miss Universe pageant and show their opposition to these drastic measures.

Civilians have been trying to get international audiences to pay attention to this punishment of political dissidents. One 67-year-old woman's son was arrested 19 months ago - but she has documents proving he had a completely clean criminal record. She brought a sign to the protest showing photos of her son, a 27-year-old artist.

There is no excuse for this kind of humanitarian injustice. The Miss Universe pageant must not be implicitly condoning such horrors or turning a blind eye. Demand that CEO Amy Emmerich apologize now and speak out against these atrocities!