The Terrorism Confinement Center (Spanish: Centro de Confinamiento del Terrorismo, abbreviated and commonly referred to as CECOT) is a maximum security prison located in Tecoluca, El Salvador. The prison was built in late 2022 amidst a large-scale gang crackdown in El Salvador and was opened by the Salvadoran government in January 2023.
CECOT received its first 2,000 prisoners in February 2023, and as of 11 June 2024[update], it has a population of 14,532 inmates.[2] With capacity for 40,000 inmates, CECOT is the largest prison in Latin America and one of the largest in the world by prisoner capacity. CECOT–as well as the gang crackdown as a whole–have been the subject of international media attention, receiving praise for the Salvadoran government as well as criticism of alleged human rights violations.
On 26 March 2022, El Salvador experienced its deadliest day in history when gang violence killed 62 people.[3]: 59–60 In response to the violence, the Salvadoran government began a large-scale crackdown against criminal gangs.[4] President Nayib Bukele called for a state of exception, which allows the state to suspend certain laws and constitutional rights in the name of the public good. In the following seven months, Bukele's government arrested over 55,000 people in a swift roundup of gang members that may not have been possible without the state of exception curtailing certain constitutional rights.[3]: 60–61
Due to the large number of alleged gang members being arrested by the country's security forces, the government announced in July 2022 that a new prison with a capacity of 40,000 would be built to house those who were arrested,[5] as well as to relieve El Salvador's overcrowded prisons, such as the Zacatecoluca prison.[6] At the time of CECOT's opening in January 2023, over 62,000 people had been arrested during the crackdown.[7] Additional measures taken by the Salvadoran government that have led to an influx of prisoners with alleged gang affiliations include the provisional detention period–which allows the government to keep suspected gang members in custody before conviction–being made indefinite.[3]: 61 Children as young as 12 years old can also now be tried for their potential gang membership, and it is alleged that around 1,600 children have been arrested since this law was amended as of November 2022.[8]
Notable gangs in El Salvador
Both Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) and the 18th Street gang (Barrio 18) have their origins in California and were started by immigrants from Central America in the 1980s. Both groups gained influence in El Salvador in the 1990s when their respective founders were deported from the United States to El Salvador.[5] MS-13 is more than twice the size of Barrio 18, the second-most prominent gang in El Salvador. Together, the two account for almost all of the nation's gang violence.[9]: 6 Other notable gangs in El Salvador include Mao Mao, Miranda Loca, and La Maquina.[10]
MS-13 has been a central focus of the Salvadoran government's current crackdown. In 2012, during the presidency of Mauricio Funes, the Salvadoran government paid MS-13 US$25 million as part of the 2012–2014 gang truce. In exchange, MS-13 was expected to quell the violence with their rival gang, Barrio 18, to assist the government in lowering the national homicide rate.[11]: 61–62 The truce between the government and the gang sparked wide debate in El Salvador over its legality, before ultimately falling apart in 2014.[12]: 11 Since the truce's end, tensions have risen within MS-13 over the allocation of the government payment, with some gang members alleging that leadership kept exorbitant amounts of the payment for themselves. Additionally, MS-13 has also taken a more militaristic approach, attacking cocaine traffickers for control over key passageways in the drug trade, which has led to increased violence.[11]: 63
Like MS-13, Barrio 18 has had a major presence in El Salvador following the Salvadoran Civil War, and has been the source of much violence in the country. Barrio 18 was also involved in the government–gang truce of 2012–2014, agreeing to a ceasefire with MS-13 until the truce collapsed.[12]: 11
Prison facility
The entire plot of land devoted to the Terrorism Confinement Center covers 410 acres (170 ha), while the physical complex itself covers approximately 57 acres (23 ha). CECOT was purposefully built in an isolated area, away from any public institutions, urban centers, or any contact with the outside world. The facility has its own water and electricity systems, furthering its divide from the rest of Tecoluca. The eight cell blocks within CECOT cover approximately 50,000 square meters (540,000 sq ft).[13] The contract to build the prison was awarded to two Salvadoran firms, OMNI and DISA, and the Mexican firm Contratista General de América Latina S.A. de C.V.[14] The prison cost US$100 million to build.[15]
Upon entering the prison, inmates are subject to a thorough security screening. Those wishing to enter the prison, including non-inmates, must submit to a scan by advanced x-ray technology designed to prevent illicit objects from entering the secure area. Non-inmates are also asked by the guards if they have any tattoos on their bodies.[16] For inmates being transferred to CECOT, this security scan is immediately followed by a registration process meant to record their personal information and details on their criminal history. Additional security measures include constant video surveillance of the entire compound, a fully-stocked armory complete with firearms and riot gear, and a 15,000-volt capacity fence surrounding the facility.[17] The prison is further surrounded by gravel flooring to make footsteps audible, four 9.8-foot-tall (3.0 m) and 23.6-inch-thick (60 cm) walls topped with barbed wire, and 19 guard towers.[13][16]
The prison's entranceSoldiers and police officers
Within the eight main cell blocks, the cells are divided into modules. Each module contains two toilets, two washing basins, and 80 bunks (with no mattresses) for more than 100 inmates. While the inmates have constant access to the washing basins, the water is controlled by guards from outside the cell. CCTV cameras monitor every cell.[16] According to Financial Times, on average, each prisoner is given 0.6 square meters (6.5 sq ft) of space in their shared cell. With a capacity of 40,000 prisoners, CECOT's inmate capacity is double that of the total population of the Marmara Penitentiaries Campus in Istanbul, Turkey—which would make CECOT the largest in the world by total capacity.[13] Separate from the main modules, there are corridors of solitary confinement cells. These solitary cells are complete with only a concrete slab for sleeping, a toilet, and a washing basin. There is no natural or artificial light in these individual cells, and guards are able to observe inmates through a small window which guards can open and shut.[17]
Prisoners are fed rice, beans, pasta, and hard-boiled eggs and are forced to eat with their hands as the guards consider forks and knives to be potential weapons.[18] Prisoners wear a uniform consisting of a white shirt and white shorts and their heads are shaved every five days. Prisoners are allowed outside of their cells for only 30 minutes per day to exercise while shackled.[16] They can also work in the prison factory to produce fabric.[13] Each cell has two Bibles for prisoners to read.[16] Prisoners are not allowed to receive visitors or make phone calls.[16][19]
The prison is secured by 1,000 guards, 600 soldiers, and 250 police officers. At maximum capacity, the prison would have 40 inmates per guard. Its nineteen guard towers—seven on the perimeter and twelve on the interior—are staffed by seven soldiers each.[13] In the interest of prioritizing the guards' wellbeing, the facility is complete with resting quarters, lounge areas with ping pong tables, bathrooms, lockers, and a gym for the guards and police personnel. In a recorded tour of the facility posted to YouTube by Bukele himself, he claims such accommodations for guards is meant to correct missteps in previous approaches to incarceration in El Salvador: "Before, the gang members had prostitutes and PlayStations, televisions, drugs, cellphones, and computers. And the guards and soldiers were sleeping on the floor. It was all backwards".[17]
Reactions
Salvadoran government
"It's impossible to escape. These psychopaths are going to spend their entire lives behind bars here."
Bukele's government has been vocal in its praise for CECOT and their broader crackdown on gang violence. Bukele has described the Terrorism Confinement Center as "the most criticized prison in the world".[20] On 20 March 2023, the Ministry of Justice and Public Security celebrated the 350th day of Bukele's administration without a homicide.[21] The government site regularly publishes articles aligned with the mission of CECOT and the larger gang crackdown, including a publication on 20 April 2023 titled, "The War Against Gangs Doesn't Stop", detailing the capture and impending imprisonment of two members of MS-13.[22]
On 1 February 2023, Bukele tweeted the following statement: "El Salvador has managed to go from being the most insecure country in the world to the safest country in the Americas. How did we do it? Putting criminals in jail. Is there space? Now yes. Will they be able to give orders from inside? No. Can they escape? No. A work of common sense." ("El Salvador ha logrado pasar de ser el país más inseguro del mundo, al país más seguro de América. ¿Cómo lo logramos? Metiendo a los criminales en la cárcel. ¿Hay espacio? Ahora sí. ¿Podrán dar órdenes desde adentro? No. ¿Podrán escapar? No. Una obra de sentido común."). His statement was accompanied by a video showcasing the prison's massive size.[23]
Allegations of abuse and human rights violations
Since CECOT's opening but also dating back to the start of the government's recent crackdown on gangs, the Salvadoran government has been the subject of widespread human rights violation allegations. Before CECOT's construction was announced, Human Rights Watch published a detailed report of alleged human rights abuses perpetrated by the government. Humans Rights Watch accuses the Salvadoran government of "arbitrary arrests, enforced disappearances, torture and other ill-treatment of detainees, and significant due process violations". Notably, the report claims that as part of the recent crackdown on gangs, the government has made tens of thousands of arrests without sufficient evidence. It is alleged that some of these arrests were made based solely on the physical appearances or social backgrounds of individuals believed to have gang affiliations. Human Rights Watch claimed that these arrests disproportionately burdened the most socio-economically disadvantaged Salvadorans.[8]
The United States Department of State released a report documenting alleged human rights violations in El Salvador from 2022. This report alleges that the state of exception in El Salvador has put more pressure on the judicial system than it can handle, and as a result has created conditions not conducive to due process. The Department of State report (published before CECOT's conception) also alleged that prison conditions in the country declined during the state of exception, with the prison system taking on more prisoners than it was built for.[24]Amnesty International criticized the government, stating that the prison does not "address the root causes of violence" and that it only allows the government to continue its "policy of mass incarceration".[25]
On 1 February 2023, Bukele published a video on Twitter of him, General Director of Penal Centers Osiris Luna Meza, Director of the National Civil Police Mauricio Arriaza Chicas, Minister of Defense René Merino Monroy, and Minister of Public Works Romeo Herrera touring the prison before its opening.[27] On 24 February 2023, Bukele published a video on Twitter of the first 2,000 prisoners being transferred to CECOT. The video shows thousands of prisoners—all with shaved heads wearing only white gym shorts—being rushed from point to point as they enter the prison.[28] Weeks later, on 15 March 2023, Bukele tweeted a similar video showing the second transfer of 2,000 more prisoners into CECOT.[29] On 11 June 2024, Bukele published a third video showing a third transfer of 2,000 prisoners to CECOT.[30]
The opening of CECOT garnered massive media attention in the weeks after its opening. Major publications in the United States–including The New York Times, The Washington Post, and the Associated Press–chronicled the prison opening its doors to inmates for the first time.[31][32][33] Images of the prison's first prison transfers, described as being "dramatic" and "shocking", were circulated, notably being published in the BBC.[34] Salvadoran news sources have also closely covered the prison's opening. El Mundo, a national publication in El Salvador, published a story detailing the second prisoner transfer and documenting international concerns over human rights abuses.[35]El País' Juan Diego Quesada has described CECOT as "the Alcatraz of Central America".[16]
On 11 September 2023, the General Directorate of Penal Centers (DGCP) permitted the Colombian news outlet Noticias Caracol to enter the prison, the first foreign news outlet allowed inside the prison.[36] CECOT has since also allowed YouTubers access to the prison to record and upload videos about it to YouTube.[37] In November 2024, CNN described CECOT as an "iconic feature" of Bukele's "new El Salvador".[38]
According to a poll conduced by CIESCA in March 2023, 96.4 percent of respondents supported the construction of CECOT while 3.6 percent opposed it.[39]
Impact on other prisons
On 1 June 2023, Bukele announced that he will build a prison similar to CECOT but for white-collar criminals as a part of a "war against corruption".[40] Bukele stated that the prison would be known as the Corruption Confinement Center (CECOC).[41]
Politicians across Latin America—in countries such as Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Ecuador, and Peru—have implemented or have called for the implementation of security policies similar to those implemented by Bukele.[42][43] Prior to the 2023 Guatemalan presidential election, National Unity of Hope candidate Sandra Torres stated that she would build two mega-prisons to "end the scourge of homicides, murders and extortions in our country", while Valor candidate Zury Ríos promised to build at least three new prisons, stating that she "admire[s] the public security policies [Bukele] has done". Citizen Prosperity candidate Carlos Pineda stated that he had the goal of "doing in Guatemala exactly what [Bukele is] doing in El Salvador".[44] In January 2024, Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa announced that he would build two prisons with capacity for 12,000 inmates each and that the prisons were modeled on CECOT.[45] In June 2024, Honduran President Xiomara Castro announced that she would build a prison with the capacity to hold 20,000 inmates based on CECOT.[46]
^"III. Back to the Iron Fist?: Bukele's Security Policies". Miracle or Mirage?: Gangs and Plunging Violence in El Salvador. International Crisis Group: 6–13. 8 July 2020. JSTORresrep31423.6.
^ abFatah, Douglas; Babineau, Kathryn (2017). "The Evolution of MS 13 in El Salvador and Honduras". PRISM. 7 (1). Institute for National Strategic Security, National Defense University: 58–73. ISSN2157-0663. JSTOR26470498.
^ abvan der Borgh, Chris (2019). "Government Responses to Gang Power: From Truce to War on Gangs in El Salvador". European Review of Latin American and Caribbean Studies (107). Centrum voor Studie en Documentatie van Latijns Amerika: 1–25. ISSN0924-0608. JSTOR26764790.
^"La Guerra Contra Pandillas no se Detiene" [The War Against the Gangs Doesn't Stop]. Ministry of Justice and Public Security (in Spanish). 21 April 2023. Retrieved 25 April 2023.
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