Bukele continues his offensive against the gangs and transfers another 2,000 gang members to the mega-prison

Two weeks after the media’s transfer of 2,000 imprisoned gang members to a new mega-prison in El Salvador, another group of the same number entered the massive detention center. Once again, the gang members left their old prison at dawn handcuffed on his bare chest and dressed only in pants white shorts to get on the buses to “America’s biggest prison”. The gigantic facility, located 74 kilometers from the capital San Salvador, has a capacity for 40,000 prisoners.

The operation was carried out a week after the state of emergency declared by the Salvadoran president, Nayib Bukele, turns one year old. Under his harsh regime, more than 64,000 people were arrested and there were no murders for 320 days.

The recent move coincided with the twelfth extension of the state of emergency was approved by the Salvadoran parliament on Wednesday. With 67 votes in favor, seven abstentions and seven votes against, the Legislative Assembly extended the declaration for another thirty days.

suspension of rights

During the period of emergency, the Government of El Salvador is authorized to suspend certain freedom and guarantees to facilitate the deployment of the military and police on the streets and in municipalities where murders occur.

Namely, this measure enables the abolition of the right to assembly throughout the country, the extension of the maximum duration of detention from 72 hours to 15 days, and the abolition of the right to defense even if telecommunications are not intercepted.

The United Nations and organizations such as Human Rights Watch or Amnesty International have repeatedly expressed concern about “serious evidence” of human rights violations in this country since the introduction of the state of emergency on March 27, 2022.