voice-over: this is bbc news. we'll have the headlines and all the main news stories for you at the top of the hour, straight after this programme. it was once the murder capital of the world. for decades, rival gangs ruled the streets of el salvador. through violence, extortion and fear. until now. for a year, the

country's media savvy president has declared war on gangs. imposing emergency security measures and giving police sweeping powers of arrest. thousands are now behind bars. and the country is transforming before people's irons. —— eyes. but there is a dark underside hidden from view. human rights groups are dismayed, as our relatives, as thousands have been arbitrarily arrested. peace may have come to el

salvador but at what price? teacher aurelia has lived here for decades, soyapango in the

district. more than 20 years ago, rival gangs, the ms—13 and the 18th street gang, took control of neighbourhoods across the country. they became in effect naga areas for outsiders and the police thousands were murdered or caught in the crossfire. and in those years of the growth of the gangs, can you explain to us what it was like living here?

in the last 12 months, aurelia has witnessed the change on the streets that she never thought possible.

for the past year, el salvador has been living under an emergency measure called the state of exception. police and military have been mobilised in vast numbers and some constitutional rights suspended. defeating the gangs was one of the main electoral promises of kelly, former marketing executive turned president —— nayib bukele. so, what's the policy meant on the streets? in the suburbs of san salvador, another security patrol is about to set off. every day for a year, dozens of police, soldiers and elite troops have been sent into the back streets of the capital,

carrying lists. they search anyone with a possible profile or touches of a gang. margaret fought twos. it's alleged some officers have been given daily quotas for arrests. 0thers officers have been given daily quotas for arrests. others are sent to specific houses, often using anonymous tip office. this neighbour explains the person they are looking for has already been arrested. but this roufus new security policy has not brought peace to everyone in alphabet. —— ruthless.

in the small rural community, i've come to meet marcella. she tells me about the moment the police slipped into their village last year. her sonjose duval was working in the fields. jose was arrested under a charge being widely used by the

police during this crackdown. unlawful association has been criticised by human rights organisations for its broad interpretation. itjustifies arrest on the grounds of being even indirectly connected with a gang. did he have any gang affiliation that they accuse him of?

this is like a petition, signed by members of the community to jose duval�*s good character, to his lack of involvement in any gang activity, signed by all of the neighbours in the village. there must be 100 or so of them, and she says she has more inside. do you have any information at all about how he's doing

inside? have you been able to see him at all? marcella's ma rcella's greatest marcella's greatest fear is thatjose may end up here, a new mega prison built to house gang members. president b kelly ensured these carefully choreographed images made headlines across the globe michael fought neighbour kelly. more than 65,000 people have been arrested in just over 12

months, making el salvador�*s prison population proportionally the highest in the world. do you think that you will have the strength to get through these next months? marcella is not alone. it's the one year anniversary of the state of exception. in the capital, hundreds of families are taking to the streets. chanting. they say that their loved ones have been detained arbitrarily in flagrant abuse of the human rights and of the constitution.

they say they haven't heard from them, have no information about them and simply don't know when or if they will ever be let out again, and there are people here who have lost loved ones in prison too.

0utside outside the national assembly building, the protesters call for the release of their detained relatives. yelling. they can only imagine the poor conditions inside the prisons. but one woman has agreed to talk about her experience. dolores, a union leader and single mum, was at home when she received an unexpected knock at the door.

do you think your arrest was related to your union activities? dolores was not told the grounds of her arrest. 0ne dolores was not told the grounds of her arrest. one of the rights suspended under the state of exception. it wasn't until days later that she realised she was being charged with unlawful association. soon after, she was sent to prison. can you tell me what that experience was like?

while dolores was in prison, her teenage daughter had to care for herfive her teenage daughter had to care for her five siblings. union members protested tirelessly against her sentence. after seven months, she was released. the government says that the international committee of the red cross makes regular visits to assess prison conditions. . critics say targeting union leaders like dolores shows the president is using the emergency measure to undermine potential opposition. i put this to his vice president in an exclusive interview. you

have made it sound very innocent, very light but the truth is, it grants some extremely draconian powers to the police, that they can arrest you merely on an anonymous phone call, merely for having tattoos, merely for suspecting that you have an association with illicit gang activity. association with illicit gang activi . ~ . association with illicit gang activi .~ ., , ., activity. what you said is not true. activity. what you said is not true- i'm _ activity. what you said is not true- i'm in _ activity. what you said is not true. i'm in the _ activity. what you said is not true. i'm in the police, - activity. what you said is not| true. i'm in the police, didn't 90, true. i'm in the police, didn't go, or didn't went to the communities to capture people because they have to or because there is an anonymous phone call, no. it's not like that. this is a lie that has been spread overfor the political position in el salvador. the truth is, that when the police go to capture a person in a community it's because they have the proof. nevertheless, human rights _ have the proof. nevertheless, human rights organisations i have the proof. nevertheless, l human rights organisations and many others, including the families of many of those who been arrested, say they have been arrested, say they have been arrested, say they have been arrested with absolutely no link to gain crime, that there are thousands of people in prison. it there are thousands of people in rison. u, there are thousands of people in rison. _, ,

there are thousands of people in prison-— in prison. it could be, when ou in prison. it could be, when you handle _ in prison. it could be, when you handle an _ in prison. it could be, when you handle an operation - in prison. it could be, when you handle an operation of| in prison. it could be, when . you handle an operation of this size, there will be some mistakes and some people could be arrested with no link with the gangs. be arrested with no link with the gangs— be arrested with no link with the gange— be arrested with no link with the hans, �* ., ., the gangs. and how do you feel about that? _ the gangs. and how do you feel about that? you _ the gangs. and how do you feel about that? you are _ the gangs. and how do you feel about that? you are admitting l about that? you are admitting on camera that there are thousands of people, potentially thousands of people innocent. �* ., , ., innocent. and thousands of eo - le innocent. and thousands of peeple have _ innocent. and thousands of people have been - innocent. and thousands of| people have been released. innocent. and thousands of- people have been released. we are aware, as you said, that some people, probably innocent people could be part but as i said, the perfect is enemy of the good. we are doing something really good, appreciated by the population, over 90% of the population agree with the state of extension and they wanted to be extension. == extension and they wanted to be extension. , ., ., extension. -- state of exception. _ extension. -- state of exception. his - extension. -- state of exception. his policy i extension. -- state of| exception. his policy is brought nearly unprecedented levels of support in el salvador. with a series of high impact, headline grabbing orders captured by his well all media machine, mr bukele is now

trying to wipe away any trace of the gangs from public view. even destroying gravestones with gang symbols on them. hundreds of former gang safe houses are also being reclaimed. with the help of low—interest loans, they are passed on to local families, like cordelia's.

if the president does stand for re—election, will you vote for him? 100 kilometres away, marcela is also taking me to see a new house. it's the one her son jose see a new house. it's the one her sonjose was building for his wife, his daughter and the baby son is yet to meet, born after he was sent to prison.

despite opponents saying it's unconstitutional, president bukele is expected to stand for re—election in 202a. his security crackdown should make him unassailable at the polls. but are thousands of families like marcela's paying the price?

0ur forecast for the week ahead doesn't bring anything that resembles a heatwave, however there is going to be a lot of fine, dry and sunny weather around stop and in the sunshine it will build relatively warm. through this weekend, england and wales will have the lion's share of that strong sunshine with iub levels. scotland and northern ireland, perhaps seeing more in the way of cloud and a little bit of rain at times. on the earlier satellite picture on friday, you can see cloud, some shower clouds across central and southern parts. some dig down storms and on saturday some generally cloudy weather and from the north—west, across northern ireland and scotland, with a bit of rain at times, not a huge amount of rain. england and wales seeing lots of sunshine, patchy cloud in the south but the vast majority will stay dry and the highest temperatures perhaps in western england, parts of wales, up to around 20 degrees. through saturday night, this frontal system will up, heavy rain for

a time and northern ireland and scotland but it will ease off again through the day on sunday. very similar sort of day with cloud and some splashes of rain for northern ireland and scotland. england and wales, patchy cloud in the south, higher temperatures further west, up to 20 or 21 degrees. as we get into monday, to high—pressure centres, and in between, there isjust enough chance for a couple of weather systems, we may see one or two showers in a way of cloud, and the cloud is likely to across northern ireland and scotland and down towards the south and south—west, cardiff, plymouth, up to 22 degrees. the weather set up really throughout next week is for high—pressure to be into the south—west of us. that high—pressure nosing its way in, bringing largely fine and settled conditions but with the wind is coming around the top

of that area of high pressure, generally from the west, in a north—westerly direction, it is never going to feel particularly warm. that said, in the sunshine, 17— 20 degrees, relatively pleasant. still quite cool. into wednesday, the area of high—pressure may retreat west, enough to allow a slightly more active frontal system to pushing across the north—west of scotland with cloud and some outbreaks of rain, getting to the north coast of northern ireland. furthersouth the north coast of northern ireland. further south and east, england and wales, largely dry, spells of sunshine, 17— 20 degrees. later in the week, our area of high pressure is set to hold in the atlantic. a large part of the atla ntica re, atlantic. a large part of the atlanticare, blocking the atla ntica re, blocking the progress atlanticare, blocking the progress of weather systems. tending to keep them to the north—west of us. it may be that week runs into cloud and rain into northern scotland. the wind direction will generally be west or northwest. if you're looking for any

really warm weather, you need a southerly wind and not going to see that. really for the next week or ten days. temperatures will not be anything dramatic, however values in the high teens although 20 sources through the end of the week, and into next weekend, will feel quite pleasant, particularly if you get yourself into some sunshine. that's all me. goodbye for

live from london, this is bbc news. g7 leaders meeting injapan are expected to issue a statement on a shared approach on china, on the second day of the summit. more than a dozen dead and thousands homeless after heavy rains and flooding in northern italy. el salvador�*s gang crackdown: how normal life is returning to neighbourhoods which spent years under gang control. hello, i'm lucy grey. welcome. a second day of talks is underway injapan, where leaders of the g7 group of countries are expected to issue a statement on a shared approach on china.

much of the first day was taken up by discussions on ukraine with president biden saying washington was prepared to give