This Is Hell... 2,000 Tattooed Men Imprisoned in a Massive Prison

El Salvador Releases Video of Criminal Incarceration

The government of El Salvador has declared a state of emergency and is conducting a 'war against gangs,' recently releasing photos of a massive prison capable of housing 40,000 inmates.

El Salvador incarcerates 2,000 gang members in Terrorist Detention Center

Photo released on the 11th (local time) by the Office of the President of El Salvador. Inmates without shirts are sitting on the floor with their hands clasped on their heads. [Image source=AFP Yonhap News]

On the 12th (local time), foreign media including the New York Post reported that the Office of the President of El Salvador has incarcerated about 2,000 gang members belonging to major violent and drug trafficking cartels such as 'MS-13' (Mara Salvatrucha) and 'Barrio 18' in the Terrorist Detention Center (CECOT). The President's official social media also announced the incarceration of gang members, stating, "There, they will pay the price for their crimes."

Videos and photos released by the President's office show inmates sitting closely together in a confined space, shirtless with their hands clasped behind their heads. Most of the shaved-headed inmates were tattooed. Some gang members were also seen being led by what appeared to be correctional officers while handcuffed. Their faces were exposed without any mosaic blurring.

President of El Salvador: "They will pay the price for their crimes"

[Image source=AFP Yonhap News]

Earlier, on the 11th, Nayib Bukele, President of El Salvador, posted on his X (formerly Twitter), "At dawn, over 2,000 gang members from three prisons were transferred to CECOT," adding, "There, they will pay the price for the crimes they committed against the people." CECOT was built on a remote site near Tecoluca, El Salvador, covering 1.65 million square meters with a building area of 230,000 square meters. The site area alone is more than half the size of Yeouido, which is 290,000 square meters inside the Yunjungno embankment in Seoul. It is known as the largest prison in Latin America and can accommodate up to 40,000 inmates at once.

The New York Post reported, "Inmates can go outside the prison for 30 minutes daily, but since they can only hit each other with barbells or weights, they can only do bodyweight exercises." It added, "No one who has entered this place, called the 'black hole of human rights,' has ever seen sunlight again." CECOT is surrounded by concrete walls over 11 meters high and electric fences, making escape impossible.

El Salvador goes 'all-in' on eradicating gangs

[Image source=AFP Yonhap News]

Meanwhile, El Salvador has seen a sharp decline in homicide rates in recent years, thanks to President Bukele's strong anti-gang policies.

According to local daily newspapers such as La Prensa Gr?fica, the number of homicides in El Salvador last year was 154, down about 70% from 495 in 2022. This corresponds to about 2.4 cases per 100,000 people.

However, domestic and international human rights organizations have raised concerns about serious human rights violations such as deaths and torture during detention. There is also criticism of police arrests and searches conducted without arrest or search warrants or clear evidence, based solely on suspicion, as well as arbitrary searches of residences under the nearly two-year-long 'national state of emergency' since March 2022.