- Some 2,000 alleged gang members were transferred to the 40,000-person capacity prison.
- More than 64,000 individuals have been apprehended in the anti-crime dragnet.
- Human rights organizations claim that the strategy has harmed innocent people.
El Salvador‘s government transferred hundreds of suspected gang members to a newly opened “mega-prison” on Friday, the latest step in a contentious crackdown on crime that has caused the Central American country’s prison population to skyrocket.
“This will be their new home, where they won’t be able to do any more harm to the population,” President Nayib Bukele wrote on Twitter.
Some 2,000 alleged gang members were transferred to the 40,000-person capacity prison, which is considered the largest in the Americas, early Friday morning.
In a video shared by Bukele, convicts with white shorts and shaven heads are shown fleeing through the new prison into cells. There are numerous bear gang tattoos.
With a huge increase in homicides attributable to violent gangs, Bukele pushed his friends in El Salvador’s Congress to pass a state of exception last year, which has subsequently been renewed many times, suspending some constitutional rights.
More than 64,000 individuals have been apprehended in the anti-crime dragnet since then. Arrests can be done without a warrant, the government has access to private correspondence, and detainees no longer have the right to counsel.
Human rights organizations claim that the strategy has harmed innocent people, including at least dozens who have died in police detention.
Nonetheless, Bukele’s anti-gang campaign remains popular among Salvadorans, and the country’s security minister stated that it would continue until all criminals were apprehended.
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