El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele on Tuesday inaugurated a new prison with a capacity of up to 40,000 inmates, all amid the open war against gangs launched on March 27, 2022 in an effort to combat a wave of homicides.
As detailed in a statement by the Salvadoran Presidency, in this new penitentiary center, called Centro de Confinamiento del Terrorismo (CECOT), «the terrorists who have caused so much grief to the country’s population» will serve their sentences.
In this sense, the Executive has responded to the accusation of the NGO Human Rights Watch (HRW) that this prison does not comply with the international regulations of the United Nations on the treatment of prisoners, assuring that it has all the necessary security standards and protocols.
«This prison has the necessary security standards and protocols to guarantee order, control and discipline of the inmates in order to not allow illicit actions inside or the communication of gang members with terrorist cells that are fugitives from justice,» said the Salvadoran Executive.
Meanwhile, inside and outside the CECOT facilities, more than 600 soldiers of the Armed Forces of El Salvador and 250 members of the National Police of El Salvador will support security tasks at all times to deal with any possible disturbances.
The facilities have been built in an area isolated from urban areas, with a size that would make it the largest prison in the Americas, according to the Government, which has detailed that the prison has an independent electricity and drinking water supply system so as not to affect the surrounding areas.
On March 27, the Salvadoran Parliament approved the entry into force for 30 days of the emergency regime throughout the country to combat the wave of homicides, which one day earlier left more than 60 dead. As a result, crime has been on the decline and there have even been dozens of days without any homicides.
However, this policy – which has been extended up to ten times – has been criticized by human rights organizations and international bodies such as the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR).
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
