With a mega-film production, the controversial president of The Saviour, Nayib Bukele showed the transfer of the first 2,000 of the 40,000 gang members who will be locked up in the Terrorism Confinement Center, a mega prison with punishment cells and factories where the president has ensured they will live for decades.
“Today at dawn, in a single operation, we transferred the first 2,000 members of the gang to the Center for the Confinement of Terrorism (Cecot). This will be their new home, where they will live for decades, mixed together, without being able to do any more harm to the population,” Bukele said on Twitter along with a video showing gang members entering the prison.
The prison, located 74 kilometers from the capital in the municipality of Tecoluca, San Vicente department, has 33 building blocks within 236 city blocks. It consists of prison pavilions with metal booths and punishment cells, virtual courtrooms and two modules for prison anti-leisure factories.
Two days before the transfer, an indictment by the US Department of Justice against 13 alleged MS-13 gang leadersfor multiple crimes in New York, accused the gangs of negotiating with government members of the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN) to reduce killings in exchange for benefits, as well as with their rival, the Republican Nationalist Alliance of right (Arena) and with the current government.
The notice mentions meetings organized by the Salvadoran government and officials such as the director of penal centers and the director of Tejido Social to obtain benefits in exchange for reducing homicides and electoral support for the 2021 legislative elections. The government has not reacted in this regard .
From the start of the exception regime on 27 March 2022 until Friday, Authorities arrested 64,512 people accused of being gang membersof which 3,745 were later released and another 3,344 denounced human rights violations, most of them for alleged arbitrary detentions, before the Cristosal association.
The prison has received criticism from the Washington Office for Latin America (WOLA), Human Rights Watch (HRW) and the José Simeón Cañas Central American University (UCA) for alleged violations of human rights and contradicting international standards.
Juan Pappier, deputy director for the Americas at HRW, told the AP that the United Nations minimum rules for the treatment of detainees, known as the Nelson Mandela Rules, suggest that closed prisons should not have such large numbers of detainees because this can hinder the individualisation of the treatment of prisoners.
They point out as a yardstick that in some countries the number of inmates in such establishments is considered to be no more than 500. A prison complex designed to house 40,000 people would clearly be incompatible with this international standard, he said.
In June 2022, the government planned an infrastructure with a capacity of 20,000 inmates.
The construction of the mega prison has received the support of government officials and representatives. We won’t stop until the last gang member is in jail. We are now defending the human rights of the innocent, official party representative Rebeca Santos said on Twitter.
The gang members now get what they deserve, a sentence they must serve in a maximum security prison. Thus, the security policy cycle continues with an important phase that will keep the streets with fewer criminals and more security, said Congressman Giovanny Zaldaña.
The emergency regime was approved on March 27, 2022, after 62 Salvadorans were killed on March 26, and its eleventh extension is valid until March 17. Homicides fell from 1,211 in 2021 to 615 in 2022, according to official data which shows a gradual year-over-year decline since 2016.
What is Bukele Mega Prison in El Salvador like?
The mega prison was built in an isolated rural area in a valley near Tecoluca, 74km southeast of San Salvador, and was inspected by Bukele.
The 166-hectare property has a dozen pavilions occupying 23 hectares, Public Works Minister Romeo Rodríguez told a national broadcaster.
The prison has a 2.1 km perimeter wall, which will be manned day and night by 600 soldiers and 250 police officers. Inside, security will be entrusted to the guards of the General Directorate of Penal Centers.
The cells are made of reinforced concrete and have thick steel bars. The prison has its own wells for the extraction of drinking water.
Source: Clarin
Mary Ortiz is a seasoned journalist with a passion for world events. As a writer for News Rebeat, she brings a fresh perspective to the latest global happenings and provides in-depth coverage that offers a deeper understanding of the world around us.