The new prison in El Salvador, in which 40,000 criminals from the “maras” are being held, is an “essential element” of the war declared ten months ago against these criminal gangs who are sowing terror in northern Central America, President Nayib assured Bukele on Wednesday.
Despite criticism from human rights organizations of the human rights abuses committed, the “war on crime” has brought President Bukele overwhelming popularity.
“Yesterday (Tuesday) we inaugurated the Center for the Containment of Terrorism” (CECOT), a “gigantic work that was carried out in just seven months and, moreover, is an essential element for the total victory in the war against gangs”, congratulated s The Salvadoran head of state on his Twitter account.
Nayib Bukele originally announced that this huge prison should be ready in September.
The gargantuan prison, built in a remote area 74 kilometers southeast of the capital San Salvador, is described by authorities as “the largest in America”. A national television channel showed the head of state inspecting the prison on Tuesday evening.
“Highest Security”
Equipped with state-of-the-art technology, the “high-security prison” was built for an undisclosed budget as part of the exceptional regime to combat the “maras” that has been in force since the end of March 2022.
The prison, surrounded by an electrified wall 11 meters high for more than two kilometers with seven watchtowers, has a dozen buildings spread over 23 of the 166 hectares it occupies, explained Public Works Minister Romeo Rodríguez.
The walls are made of reinforced concrete, the cell windows have steel bars, while cameras and body scanners complete the security of the prison, which is guarded day and night by 600 soldiers and 250 police officers. Electronic devices block cell phone signals, preventing prisoners from communicating.
Prison guards armed with pistols and assault rifles have to keep order in the prison themselves.
“All terrorists who have orchestrated the grief and suffering of the Salvadoran people will serve their sentences in CECOT (subject to) the strictest regime,” said Deputy Minister of Justice and Public Security Osiris Luna.
Inmates must work to “repair some of the harm they have done to society,” he added.
President Bukele condemned the negligence of previous governments, which he asserted allowed gangsters to be arrested with “prostitutes, PlayStations, cell phones, computers”.
Permanently in cell
An official explained to the Salvadoran President during the visit that the detainees are being kept permanently in their cells, which have fully shielded doors that allow surveillance. According to the TV images, the cells, which are six by four meters in size, are equipped with three metal beds, each with three sleeping places on top of each other, and equipped with two sinks and two toilets.
Misconduct by detainees can be punished with confinement in cells completely closed and immersed in darkness.
The prison has many canteens, rest rooms, gymnasiums and ping-pong tables… for the exclusive use of the guards.
Since transfer to a court is prohibited, rooms are provided for hearings via video conference.
The government has not specified when the prison will take its first inmates. At the moment, nearly 63,000 suspected “mareros” have been arrested under the exceptional regime allowing arrests without a court warrant, which Parliament has passed and regularly renewed since a spate of 87 attacks in just three days at the end of March 2022.
“Shame on the country”
The director of El Salvador’s human rights commission, Miguel Montenegro, calls the penitentiary “a disgrace to the country”: “The government boasts of having the largest prison in Latin America, which is nothing to be proud of when it comes to overcrowding and violence “.
For his part, Andreu Oliva, rector of the Central American University (Jesuit), advocates work on the “rehabilitation” of prisoners, saying they “deserve a second chance”. “The function of the penal system is to change people,” emphasizes the scientist.
Last week, the human rights organization Humans Rights Watch denounced the “extreme overcrowding” of around twenty prisons in El Salvador, which theoretically have 30,000 places without the new prison.