“Like in a concentration camp”: 2,000 extra inmates in El Salvador’s Giga prison Penguin watchers are wanted in Antarctica – the work is tough

El Salvador’s government has transferred another 2,000 suspected gang members to a new mega-prison – and released another video showing provocative footage of the controversial proceedings. Conservative President Nayib Bukele wrote on Twitter on Wednesday (local time) that the total number of inmates in the “world’s most criticized prison” has risen to 4,000, where he also posted the video.

The feature-like images with exciting music show long lines of tattooed prisoners who, barefoot and in white shorts, quickly enter the prison in the center of the Central American country and have to sit close together on the floor.

On February 24, a video of the first mass transfer to Tecoluca, about 75 kilometers southeast of the capital San Salvador, caused a stir. Left-wing Colombian President Gustavo Petro described conditions in the massive prison as “like in a concentration camp,” as Mexican newspaper “Aristogui Noticias” reported.

Up to 40,000 gang members will be housed in the Salvadoran prison, which opened in February.

In the country with about six million inhabitants, a state of emergency has been in force for almost a year in the fight against the violent so-called maras. A number of fundamental rights have been restricted. More than 64,000 suspected gang members were arrested. The number of murders has recently fallen sharply, but human rights activists speak of arbitrary arrests. (con/sda/dpa)