Americas

‘Terrorism Confinement Center’: El Salvador opens new 40,000-person prison

Police and army have arrested more than 62,000 suspected gang members and their collaborators since ‘state of exception’ declared in March last year

Demonstrators take part in a march in San Salvador in January to commemorate the 31th anniversary of peace accords that ended the 1980-1992 Salvadoran civil war and to protest against the government of President Nayib Bukele. El Salvador's legislature had just extended a state of emergency for 30 days, a measure taken as part of the president's 'war' against gang-related violence. Photograph: Marvin Recionos/AFP/Getty
Wed Feb 01 2023 - 21:23

Authorities in El Salvador have opened what will be one of Latin America’s largest prisons, more than doubling the country’s incarceration capacity, as a government crackdown on criminal gangs continues to cause the prison population to soar.

The 40,000-capacity Terrorism Confinement Center was inaugurated on Tuesday to help relieve some of the overpopulation in the country's prison system.

Since President Nayib Bukele asked the country’s congress to approve a “state of exception” in March 2022, the police and army have arrested more than 62,000 suspected gang members and their collaborators.

Under the measure some constitutional rights have been suspended, including allowing authorities to make arrests without a warrant and giving the government access to citizens’ communications.

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With nearly 2 per cent of its adult population behind bars, El Salvador now has the highest incarceration rate in the world.

Alleged members of the Calle 18 gang and drug dealers captured by soldiers and police in the Tutunichapa community in San Salvador, El Salvador, in December 2022. Photograph: Marvin Recinos/AFP/Getty

The rising inmate population as a result of the anti-gang measures, which the vast majority of the population supports, has stretched the country’s already overwhelmed prison system. El Salvador’s largest prison, La Esperanza, currently holds 33,000 people, despite having a capacity of just 10,000.

El Salvador’s prisons director Osiris Luna said the new prison will span 166 hectares (410 acres), while 600 troops and 250 police officers will secure it.

[ El Salvador seals off town as 10,000 police officers and soldiers search for gang members ]

“All those home boys, those terrorists in the organisation that made our beloved Salvadoran people suffer, will be house[d] and subjected to a severe regimen,” Mr Luna said on state television.

By 2021, El Salvador’s prison system had 20 penal centres with a capacity for 30,000 prisoners, holding 35,976 of them. – Reuters