A National Civil Police Special Forces officer patrols past a mural of Armando Bukele, father of El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele, which was paint...
A National Civil Police Special Forces officer patrols past a mural of Armando Bukele, father of El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele, which was painted by supporters of the president outside a cultural center as a thank you gesture for creating the center when he was mayor, during the enforcement of the coronavirus-related quarantine, in the Iberia area of San Salvador, El Salvador, Thursday, April 23, 2020. When the coronavirus appeared, President Bukele closed the borders and airports and imposed a mandatory home quarantine for all except those working in the government, hospitals, pharmacies or other designated businesses. People were allowed out only to buy groceries, and violators were detained, with more than 2,000 being held for 30-day stints. (AP Photo/Salvador Melendez)
FILE - In this Feb. 9, 2020 file photo, El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele, accompanied by members of the armed forces, speaks to supporters outside...
FILE - In this Feb. 9, 2020 file photo, El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele, accompanied by members of the armed forces, speaks to supporters outside Congress in San Salvador, El Salvador. Bukele has imposed some of the region's toughest measures against the new coronavirus and a growing number of human rights advocates at home and abroad complain the 38-year-old leader has used the emergency to seize near-dictatorial powers. (AP Photo/Salvador Melendez, File)
People raise white flags begging for food from drivers on the Golden Highway in Ilopango, El Salvador, Tuesday, May 19, 2020. Poor Salvadorans who hav...
People raise white flags begging for food from drivers on the Golden Highway in Ilopango, El Salvador, Tuesday, May 19, 2020. Poor Salvadorans who have not been able to earn a living because of the economic paralysis brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic are increasingly taking to the streets to beg for food. (AP Photo/Salvador Melendez)
SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador (AP) — President Nayib Bukele is threatening to file a complaint with an international tribunal against El Salvador's other two branches of government in a fight over his harsh coronavirus confinement policies.
Bukele wrote late Wednesday that he would take the issue to the Inter American Human Rights Commission, arguing that the country's courts and congress have “violated the right to health and life, by not allowing the government to take the necessary health measures to contain the spread of the virus.”
Earlier this month, a coronavirus state of emergency expired, and Bukele extended it via executive decree for 30 days. But the constitutional chamber of the Supreme Court ruled he couldn’t do that.
Then the Legislative Assembly, which does have the power to extend the state of emergency, but passed legislation that Bukele found unacceptable. The bill would have loosened some of his toughest measures, such as confining people caught violating the stay-at-home order to containment centers for 30 days.
At the time, Bukele heaped criticism on the high court and the congress via his Twitter account, accusing the court of ruling that COVID-19 could destroy El Salvador.
