El Salvador’s government has moved thousands of suspected gang members to a newly opened “megaprison”, the latest step in a controversial crackdown on crime that has caused the Central American nation’s prison population to soar.
“This will be their new home, where they won’t be able to do any more harm to the population,” the president, Nayib Bukele, wrote on Twitter.
About 2,000 accused gang members were moved to the 40,000-capacity ‘Terrorism Confinement Centre’ (Cecot), considered to be the largest prison in the Americas, on Friday.
In a video posted by Bukele, prisoners stripped down to white shorts, with their heads shaved, are seen running through the new prison into cells. Many bear gang tattoos.
Bukele asked his allies in El Salvador’s congress to pass a state of exception last year, which has since been extended several times, that suspends some constitutional rights after a dramatic increase in murders attributed to violent gangs.
Since then, more than 64,000 suspects have been arrested in the anti-crime dragnet. Arrests can be made without a warrant, private communications are accessible by the government, and detainees no longer have the right to a lawyer.
Human rights organisations argue that innocent people have been caught up in the policy, including dozens who have died in police custody.
But Bukele’s anti-gang push remains widely popular with Salvadorans, and the country’s security minister told Reuters it would continue until all criminals are captured.