El Salvador moves 2,000 gang members to mega-prison amid crackdown on crime
Urja Sinha and Ali Bradley
(NewsNation) — Two thousand suspected gang members have been moved to a new mega-prison in El Salvador, built as part of President Nayib Bukele’s self-proclaimed “war on crime.”
“This will be their new home, where they won’t be able to do any more harm to the population,” Bukele wrote on Twitter.
Bukele shared photos and videos over the weekend showing barefoot, tattooed men hunched over and packed tightly together. The prisoners are seen with shaved heads being led into the facility in shackles.
“They’re not scary anymore are they?” Bukele tweeted Saturday. “Criminals do not cause any fear, once they are deprived of the protection of the State and the corrupt politicians and international organizations that finance and defend them.”
The mega-prison, officially called the Center for the Confinement of Terrorism (CECOT), was built to hold 40,000 prisoners. Bukele unveiled the center in January, saying it is “a fundamental piece to completely win the war against gangs.”
The prisoners transferred to the CECOT are reportedly members of the MS-13 and 18th street gangs, who gained strongholds in El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras after getting deported from Los Angeles.
TECOLUCA, EL SALVADOR – FEBRUARY 24: A first group of 2,000 detainees are moved to the mega- prison Terrorist Confinement Centre (CECOT) on February 24, 2023 in Tecoluca, El Salvador. Since president Nayib Bukele announced state of exception in March 2022, over 62,000 suspected gang members have been arrested. Human Rights organizations denounce abuses and due process violations. El Salvador has one of highest crime rates in Latin America. (Photo by Presidencia El Salvador via Getty Images )
TECOLUCA, EL SALVADOR – FEBRUARY 24: A first group of 2,000 detainees are moved to the mega- prison Terrorist Confinement Centre (CECOT) on February 24, 2023 in Tecoluca, El Salvador. Since president Nayib Bukele announced state of exception in March 2022, over 62,000 suspected gang members have been arrested. Human Rights organizations denounce abuses and due process violations. El Salvador has one of highest crime rates in Latin America. (Photo by Presidencia El Salvador via Getty Images )
TECOLUCA, EL SALVADOR – FEBRUARY 24: A first group of 2,000 detainees are moved to the mega- prison Terrorist Confinement Centre (CECOT) on February 24, 2023 in Tecoluca, El Salvador. Since president Nayib Bukele announced state of exception in March 2022, over 62,000 suspected gang members have been arrested. Human Rights organizations denounce abuses and due process violations. El Salvador has one of highest crime rates in Latin America. (Photo by Presidencia El Salvador via Getty Images )
TECOLUCA, EL SALVADOR – FEBRUARY 24: A first group of 2,000 detainees are moved to the mega- prison Terrorist Confinement Centre (CECOT) on February 24, 2023 in Tecoluca, El Salvador. Since president Nayib Bukele announced state of exception in March 2022, over 62,000 suspected gang members have been arrested. Human Rights organizations denounce abuses and due process violations. El Salvador has one of highest crime rates in Latin America. (Photo by Presidencia El Salvador via Getty Images )
TECOLUCA, EL SALVADOR – FEBRUARY 24: A first group of 2,000 detainees are moved to the mega- prison Terrorist Confinement Centre (CECOT) on February 24, 2023 in Tecoluca, El Salvador. Since president Nayib Bukele announced state of exception in March 2022, over 62,000 suspected gang members have been arrested. Human Rights organizations denounce abuses and due process violations. El Salvador has one of highest crime rates in Latin America. (Photo by Presidencia El Salvador via Getty Images )
TECOLUCA, EL SALVADOR – FEBRUARY 24: A first group of 2,000 detainees are moved to the mega- prison Terrorist Confinement Centre (CECOT) on February 24, 2023 in Tecoluca, El Salvador. Since president Nayib Bukele announced state of exception in March 2022, over 62,000 suspected gang members have been arrested. Human Rights organizations denounce abuses and due process violations. El Salvador has one of highest crime rates in Latin America. (Photo by Presidencia El Salvador via Getty Images )
TECOLUCA, EL SALVADOR – FEBRUARY 24: A first group of 2,000 detainees are moved to the mega- prison Terrorist Confinement Centre (CECOT) on February 24, 2023 in Tecoluca, El Salvador. Since president Nayib Bukele announced state of exception in March 2022, over 62,000 suspected gang members have been arrested. Human Rights organizations denounce abuses and due process violations. El Salvador has one of highest crime rates in Latin America. (Photo by Presidencia El Salvador via Getty Images )
TECOLUCA, EL SALVADOR – FEBRUARY 24: A first group of 2,000 detainees are moved to the mega- prison Terrorist Confinement Centre (CECOT) on February 24, 2023 in Tecoluca, El Salvador. Since president Nayib Bukele announced state of exception in March 2022, over 62,000 suspected gang members have been arrested. Human Rights organizations denounce abuses and due process violations. El Salvador has one of highest crime rates in Latin America. (Photo by Presidencia El Salvador via Getty Images )
TECOLUCA, EL SALVADOR – FEBRUARY 24: A first group of 2,000 detainees are moved to the mega- prison Terrorist Confinement Centre (CECOT) on February 24, 2023 in Tecoluca, El Salvador. Since president Nayib Bukele announced state of exception in March 2022, over 62,000 suspected gang members have been arrested. Human Rights organizations denounce abuses and due process violations. El Salvador has one of highest crime rates in Latin America. (Photo by Presidencia El Salvador via Getty Images )
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Human rights organizations are arguing Salvadoran forces have committed “widespread human rights violations” since a state of emergency was announced last year in March.
“Salvadoran security forces have battered vulnerable communities with widespread human rights violations in the name of public safety,” said Juanita Goebertus, Americas Division director at Human Rights Watch in a statement.
Last year, Bukele asked Congress to approve a state of emergency after the country saw a spike in homicides attributed to gang violence.
Arrests can be made without a warrant, private communications are accessible by the government and detainees no longer have the right to a lawyer. Reuters reported more than 64,000 suspects have been arrested under the new policies.
The U.S. still has somewhere between 30,000 and 50,000 gang members belonging to the MS-13 and 18th street gangs living across 20 states.
