On Friday, El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele welcomed the first 2,000 prisoners to the mega-prison in Tecoluca.
There is room for over 40,000.
In a Twitter message, he wrote that the first 2,000 gang members had been transferred that morning to the prison, which is located seven miles south of the capital San Salvador.
HAND AND FOOT RACES: The transfer from Izalco prison to what will be America’s largest prison is part of President Nayib Bukele’s war against organized crime gangs. Photo: NTB Scanpix/AFP/El Salvador’s presidential office
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“This will be their new home, where they will live for decades, mixed together, without being able to harm the population any more,” wrote the president.
Heavily armed guards
The photos his office released show images of heavily tattooed prisoners.
In white shorts, with hand and leg irons, they are chased around by heavily armed guards with masks, helmets and bulletproof vests.
THE FIRST 2,000: The prison in Tecoluca will have room for more than 40,000 prisoners. On Friday, the first 2,000 arrived. Photo: NTB Scanpix/AFP/El Salvador’s presidential office
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Their new home will not be luxurious:
More than a hundred prisoners will live in each cell, which BBC printer is 100 square meters. There they have to share two toilets and two sinks.
The images have also attracted attention outside El Salvador’s borders.
On Twitter, Bukele reacts strongly to the US government’s media channel Voice of America using the term “suspected criminals” about these prisoners.
Amnesty: Human rights crisis
Bukele himself calls them “murderers, convicted of murdering thousands of Salvadorans”.
While the president’s war against so-called “maras” – criminal, organized gangs such as MS-13 and Barrio-18 – is popular among the population of El Salvador, it has also been heavily criticized.
HEAVILY TATTOOED: Most of the prisoners in the pictures from El Salvador’s press service are heavily tattooed. According to the captions, the prisoners belong to the notorious gangs MS-13 and Barrio-18. Photo: NTB Scanpix/AFP/El Salvador’s presidential office
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Among the critics are Amnesty Internationalwhich in June last year determined that the country is in a human rights crisis after Bukele declared a state of emergency three months earlier.
“Under the pretext of punishing the gangs, the Salvadoran authorities commit widespread and clear violations of human rights and criminalize people living in poverty,” wrote Amnesty.
– They won’t see the sun
