Never Come Back: El Salvador locks gangsters in a massive new prison with the promise of never being released

El Salvador continues to fill its massive prison, adding 2,000 more prisoners as the government vows they will “never” return to the streets.

“They will never return to the beloved communities, neighborhoods, barrios and cities of El Salvador,” Justice and Peace Minister Gustavo Filatoro said of the relocation plans.

The government has swept away nearly 65,000 suspected gang members since approving emergency powers to Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele in March 2022, which also allowed it to approve and build the massive prison.

The country’s “terror detention center” holds 40,000–It has already taken in more than 4,000 prisoners as the government continues to crack down on the vast gang problem. It had already reached 10% of its maximum capacity just one month after opening.

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Gang members are waiting to be transferred to their cells after 2,000 have been transferred to the Terrorist Detention Center, according to El Salvador’s President Néb Bukele, in Ticoluca, El Salvador, in this handout distributed to Reuters on March 15, 2023. (Secretaria de Prensa de la Presidencia / Handout via Reuters)

Another 3,500 detainees have been released, while some 57,000 remaining suspects are awaiting trial.

The government publicized the prison extensively, releasing videos of prisoner transfers and offering an impressive inside look at the facilities. This prison is one of the largest in Latin America, with 37 guard towers and eight cells from which it would be “impossible to escape.”

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Gang members are waiting to be transferred to their cells after 2,000 have been transferred to the Terrorist Detention Center, according to El Salvador’s President Néb Bukele, in Ticoluca, El Salvador, in this handout distributed to Reuters on March 15, 2023. (Secretaria de Prensa de la Presidencia / Handout via Reuters)

Bukele has called for an extension of the emergency powers – known as the state of exception – that have allowed him to take such sweeping measures over the past year. He pushed through the new measure after three days of violence that left 87 people dead, which he blamed on the notorious MS-13 gang.

Congress must still agree to extend anti-gang measures, but lawmakers are expected to do so, as they have done dozens of times before.

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Gang members were handcuffed as 2,000 were transferred to a terror detention center, according to El Salvador’s president, Neb Bukele, in Ticoluca, El Salvador, in this bulletin distributed to Reuters on March 15, 2023. (Secretaria de Prensa de la Presidencia / Handout via Reuters)

Under special powers, the right to association is suspended, and the police do not have to tell someone why they have been arrested, or inform them of their rights. The person arrested does not have the right to contact a lawyer and can be held for 15 days without seeing a judge, instead of the previous 72 hours.

About 2% of the country’s adult population ended up behind bars as a result of El Salvador’s operations.

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NGOs counted several thousand human rights violations and at least 80 deaths in custody of people arrested during the state of exception. Rights activists say young men are often arrested based on their age, appearance, or whether they live in a slum dominated by gangs.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.