Another 2,000 suspected gang members land in El Salvador’s mega-prison
Another 2,000 suspected gang members were shipped to El Salvador’s revered mega-prison, the country’s president announced Wednesday as he unveiled more footage of the “impossible to escape” facility.
The new arrivals joined another 2,000 accused gangsters who landed in the new Center for the Confinement of Terrorism last month as El Salvador looks to win its battle against raging street gangs.
President Nayib Bukele blasted out new footage of the prison and its new prisoners being hustled off buses and into the facility as they’re surrounded by heavily armed guards.
Inside the prison, the tattooed men, in white shorts, barefoot and handcuffed, are seen huddled together as they crouch down and hang their shaved heads before running into jail cells.
“There are now 4,000 gang members in the world’s most criticized prison,” Bukele said in a tweet.
The prison has a capacity for 40,000 people.
It was previously reported that the prison, located 46 miles from the Central American country’s capital, would hold inmates in eight buildings that each have 32 cells that will hold 100 prisoners each.
Each cell has only two toilets and two sinks.
The prison is considered to be the largest in the Americas.
Bukele has bragged that it’s “impossible to escape.”
While Bukele has taken a proactive approach in his war against gangs, the initiative has raised concerns among human rights observers that basic constitutional rights are being violated, including worries that people are being detained without a warrant.
Over the last year, more than 60,000 accused gang members have been captured by the country’s army or police.
The government’s minister for justice and peace, Gustavo Villatoro, declared the alleged gang members would never be back on the streets even though about 57,000 of those detained are still waiting for formal charges or a trial.
“They are never going to return to the communities, the neighborhoods, the barrios, the cities of our beloved El Salvador,” Villatoro said.
With Post wires
