JAKARTA - El Salvador has just inaugurated one of the largest prisons in the world, equipped with a variety of high standard security features, as the government plays a war on gang groups.
Named the Terrorism Conference Center, the 40,000-capacity prison was built to help reduce population excess in the prison system, in line with firm action against gang groups.
Since President Nayib Bukele asked the state congress to approve a state of emergency in March last year, police and soldiers have arrested more than 62,000 suspected gang members and collaborators.
President Nayib Bukele described the maximum security prison as "a fundamental part to completely win the fight against gangs," as quoted by Sky News.
Under these measures some constitutional rights have been suspended, including allowing authorities to make arrests without a warrant and granting the government access to citizen communications.
In a post on Twitter, President Nayib Bukele showed tours of various prison facilities, including a seven-layer security system, starting from heavily fortified dense steel cells, towering prison barriers, patrol zones, electric fences to 19 surveillance towers, making it almost impossible for prisoners to escape.
The president said inmates in other prisons previously had access to "hittings, computers, TV screens, PlayStation and cell phones" which he described as setbacks.
The troublemakers will be transferred to an isolation cell where they "will not see sunlight," he said.
"El Salvador has succeeded in turning from the world's most unsafe country to America's safest country," the president tweeted.
With nearly two percent of the adult population behind bars, El Salvador has the highest detention rate in the world.
The growing population of prisoners as a result of anti-geng measures, backed by most of the population, has expanded the country's already overwhelmed prison system. El Salvador's largest prison, La Esperanza, currently hosts 33,000 people, while its capacity is only 10,000 people.
El Salvador's Prison Directorpan Luna said the new prison would stretch more than 166 hectares (410 hectares). It will be guarded by 600 soldiers and 250 police officers. It is known, government data in 2021 shows that the El Salvador prison system has 20 correction centers with a capacity of 30,000 people. Meanwhile, the number of detainees reached 35,976.
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