The world's murder capital, El Salvador, opened a 40,000-inmate impenetrable "mega-prison" as part of its major gang crackdown as the country continues to face a slew of violence.
In a statement, the country's Prisons Director, Osiris Luna, said that all of the so-called terrorists in the organization responsible for making the people of El Salvador suffer would be imprisoned and subjected to a severe regimen.
El Salvador's New Mega-Prison
President Nayib Bukele said that El Salvador's "Terrorism Confinement Center" mega-prison, which has now become one of Latin America's largest prisons, will be equipped with 37 guard towers and eight cell blocks that he claims will be "impossible to escape."
Authorities noted that roughly 600 troops and 250 police officers would assist in securing the prison, which sits on about 410 acres of land. The infrastructure will become a powerful new tool in El Salvador's continued "war against gangs," which has proven to be popular with the beleaguered population, according to Fox News.
In March last year, Bukele declared a state of exception as he empowered his government to crack down on gang members. He loosened the country's arrest rules, which meant that there was no more need for a warrant for authorities to arrest, and gave officials access to citizens' communications.
The country's Congress also extended the state of exception several times since it was first implemented, which has resulted in over 46,000 arrests of alleged gang members. At the end of the year, that number surged to more than 62,000 and included alleged collaborators.
Last year, Cid Gallup conducted a poll that found that 91% of the people surveyed favored a more aggressive crackdown against gangs. However, the process has also resulted in roughly 2% of El Salvador's adult population being locked up behind bars. This further strained the country's already pressured prison system.
Major Gang Crackdown
Despite the efforts, non-governmental organizations have tallied several thousands of human rights violations. According to Yahoo News, they also noted that there had been at least 80 in-custody deaths of people arrested during the state of exception.
On the other hand, various rights activists argue that young men in El Salvador are frequently taken into custody simply for their age, appearance, or whether or not they live in a gang-dominated slum.
In a Twitter post, authorities showed a video where President Bukele could be seen being guided by officials on a tour of the new facility. They showed him the prison's seven security "rings," from the heavily guarded reinforced solid steel inmate cells to the perimeter of the prison wall, including patrol zones: electric fencing and 19 watchtowers.
The president noted that inmates in other prisons have had access to "prostitutes, computers, TV screens, Playstations, and mobile phones." He said that such an environment was "backward."
Bukele said that other officials told him that inmates considered troublesome would be moved to isolation cells where they could not see any daylight. In a Twitter post, the president said that the country has managed to go from being the most insecure country in the world to being the safest country in the Americas, said Sky News.
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