The new mega-prison where 40,000 suspected gang members will be detained is a “fundamental piece” to win the war on crime in El Salvadorthe president said on Wednesday Nayib Bukeleafter receiving praise and criticism when presenting the prison.
“Yesterday we inaugurated the Center for the Confinement of Terrorism” (CECOT), is “a gigantic work carried out in just 7 months, and that it is also a fundamental piece to completely win the war against gangs” launched 10 months ago, the president wrote on his Twitter account.
The gigantic prison, located in an isolated rural area and equipped with a lot of technology, is considered as the “largest in America” by the Salvadoran government. It was built under the emergency regime with which Bukele seeks to end the violent gangs, which previously controlled most of the Salvadoran territory.
The prison was presented to Salvadorans on Tuesday night on a national radio and television network, which showed Bukele inspecting the prison along with some collaborators.
“Severe regime”
The “maximum security” prison – whose cost has not been revealed – was built on a 166-hectare property. It has a dozen pavilions that occupy 23 hectares, explained the Minister of Public Works, Romeo Rodríguez.
The jail has reinforced concrete walls, cells with steel bars on the windows, security cameras everywhere, full body scanner for those who enter the place, seven watchtowers and a 2.1 kilometer high perimeter wall, which will be guarded day and night by 600 soldiers and 250 policemen. The 11 meter high wall is electrified to prevent leaks.
Inside, guards from the General Directorate of Penal Centers armed with pistols and assault rifles will be in charge of guarding the inmates. In addition, electronic equipment will block cell phone signals, preventing communication from the prison.
“All the terrorists who planned the mourning and pain against the Salvadoran people will serve their sentences in the CECOT, in the most severe regime,” said the Vice Minister of Justice and Public Security, Osiris Luna.
He added that the gang members who are imprisoned in the CECOT will have to work to “compensate for part of the damage they did to society.”
Bukele has said that previous Salvadoran governments “had gang members [presos] with prostitutes, with [equipos de] PlayStation, with screens, with cell phones, with computers […]rewarding the delinquent.
always locked up
In Bukele’s inspection, cells measuring about six meters by four meters are seen, with three metal bunk beds with nine beds in total, two sinks and two toilets.
An official tells the president that inmates will remain locked in their cells at all timeswhose fronts are totally barred, which allows the guards to see everything inside.
The authorities have not specified how many inmates will occupy each cell. There are also dark “punishment cells,” without windows, to punish inmates of bad conduct, who “will not see sunlight,” according to Luna. The prison has dining rooms, rest rooms, a gym and ping pong tables, but only for the use of the guards, as well as workshops for the inmates.
There are also rooms for virtual court hearings. “There is no possibility of being able to go out to do some errand” in court, Luna said.
“It is a shame”
Until now, the government has kept a secret when the first of the almost 63,000 detained gang members will begin to be transferred to the mega-prison, but it is believed that it will be very soon.
The massive arrests, criticized by human rights organizations, are protected by an emergency regime that allows arrests without a warrant. It was approved by Congress at the request of Bukele in response to a homicidal escalation that claimed the lives of 87 people from March 25 to 27. After the presentation of the enormous jail, voices arose with praise and criticism of Bukele.
“With this, the government is telling the gangs that they have no control, the state institutions have control and that those who commit acts of violence or crimes against society will end up in that jail.” said the political scientist Óscar Peñate,
On the other hand, for the director of the Human Rights Commission of El Salvador, Miguel Montenegro, the mega-prison “is a shame for the country.”
“The government boasts of having the largest prison in Latin America, which is not a source of pride but rather a questioning that entails risks of overcrowding and violence,” Montenegro commented, stating that gangs must be fought “using methods that do lead to readaptation”.
Rehabilitation?
The rector of the Jesuit Central American University, Andreu Oliva, considered that the government should bet on the “rehabilitation” of the inmates, because “they deserve a second chance.”
“The function of the prison system is to change people”, Olive maintained. Last week, the organization Human Rights Watch (HRW) denounced that there is “extreme overcrowding” in Salvadoran prisons due to arrests without a warrant.
Bukele has accused his critics of “defending” gang members and claims that his country has become the safest in Latin America. (YO)
Source: Eluniverso
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