El salvador: The government of El Salvador on Wednesday transferred 2,000 more suspects to a sizable new prison created especially for gang members, and the justice minister vowed that "they will never return" to the streets.
The stern statement was made at the same time that President Nayib Bukele's administration requested a 13th extension of the anti-gang emergency measures.
In the last 354 days, the anti-gang campaign has resulted in the arrest of about 65,000 people. According to human rights organisations, there have been numerous instances of prisoner abuse and innocent people have been taken into custody during police raids.
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A professionally made video that was uploaded to social media by the government served as an announcement of the mass inmate transfer. Only wearing the required white shorts, it showed prisoners being forced to run barefoot and handcuffed down stairs and over bare ground. They were then made to sit in cells in tightly packed groups with their legs chained.
Even though approximately 57,000 of those detained are still awaiting formal charges or a trial, Gustavo Villatoro, the government's minister for justice and peace, declared that the alleged gang members would never return to the streets.
They will never return to the towns, villages, barrios, or cities of our beloved El Salvador, according to Villatoro.
Only about 3,500 of those detained during the crackdown have so far been freed.
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There are currently 4,000 gang members in the most criticised prison in the world, according to Bukele, who enjoys taking the opposing view and once referred to himself as "world's coolest dicator," in a tweet.
The prison, known as the Terrorism Confinement Center, opened in February and currently houses about 2,000 suspected gang members. It is a vast campus 45 miles (72 km) east of San Salvador, the country's capital, with room for up to 40,000 prisoners.
Congress still needs to approve the expansion of the anti-gang laws, but lawmakers are expected to follow past precedent and do so.
Following a spike in gang violence that saw 62 people killed nationwide in a single day on March 27, Bukele asked for the special powers to go after the gangs. Street gangs in El Salvador, including MS-13 and Barrio 18, have long killed people and demanded money from locals.
The measures have successfully decreased homicides and are well-liked by the majority of Salvadorans. According to officials, there have been 200 days since the crackdown started without any homicides at all.
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Police are not required to explain the circumstances surrounding an arrest or advise a suspect of their rights under the special powers, which suspend the right to association. Instead of the previous 72 hours, a person who has been arrested may be detained for 15 days without being seen by a judge and without the right to counsel.
In the first 11 months of the state of emergency, 3,344 cases of violations of human rights were reported, according to the local rights group Cristosal.