US President Donald Trump has sent hundreds of mostly Venezuelan migrants to El Salvador's mega prison, which is known for its 'harsh conditions'.&nbsp;
The imprison facility has drawn both criticism as well as appreciation from several groups.&nbsp;
El Salvador&rsquo;s Cecot mega-prison, an acronym for Terrorism Confinement Centre in Spanish, is Latin America's biggest prison with a capacity for 40,000 inmates.&nbsp;
The 23-hectare prison is located isolated in a rural region 70 km east of the capital San Salvador.&nbsp;
The prison is home to the country's most hardened criminals, including mass murderers and gang members billed as the &ldquo;worst of the worst&rdquo;.&nbsp;
Also read: <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/could-get-jailed-in-el-salvador-prisons-trump-threatens-terrorists-harming-musk-tesla-with-20-year-jail-term-8877058">&lsquo;Could get jailed in El Salvador prisons&rsquo;: Trump threatens &lsquo;terrorists&rsquo; harming Musk, Tesla with 20-year&nbsp;jail</a>
<h2>What happens in the prison?&nbsp;</h2>
In the El Salvador prison, men are held for 23.5 hours a day and the "only furniture is tiered metal bunks, with no sheets, pillows or mattresses...an open toilet, a cement basin and plastic bucket for washing and a large jug for drinking water", CNN reported.&nbsp;
The officers at the prison held the heads of the deportees who came to the US, to their waist level as they escorted them to the facility in shackles.&nbsp;
Then they were forced to kneel while prison guards shaved their hair and shouted commands.&nbsp;
Also read: <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/el-salvadors-nayib-bukele-mega-prison-americas-worst-criminals-illegal-immigrants-us-secretary-of-state-marco-rubio-us-president-donald-trump-8690813">El Salvador's &lsquo;mega-prison&rsquo; to take in America&rsquo;s worst criminals, illegal immigrants but 'for a price'</a>
&ldquo;We are executing to the letter a regiment to which you will submit from this moment on, where prison security personnel will be treated with absolute respect! Is that clear?&rdquo; one officer shouts at the visibly disturbed inmates in a video shared by the Salvadoran government.
The prisoners after being transferred to the facility, were stripped down to white boxer shorts, with their heads shaved as they were forced to run into their cells, according to images published by the government in 2023.&nbsp;
According to a CNN report, men were allowed out of their crowded cells for just 30 minutes a day, that &ldquo;there is no privacy here, no trace of comfort&rdquo; and the lights were on 24/7.
Also read: <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/el-salvador-to-transfer-big-chunk-of-bitcoin-to-physical-vault-700454">El Salvador to transfer 'big chunk' of bitcoin to physical vault</a>
&ldquo;They do not work. They are not allowed books or a deck of cards or letters from home. Plates of food are stacked outside the cells at mealtimes and pulled through the bars. No meat is ever served. The 30-minute daily respite is merely to leave the cell for the central hallway for group exercise or Bible readings,&rdquo; CNN reported.&nbsp;
Moreover, the inmates are also not allowed visits from family or friends and some of them must face the possibility of never being released.&nbsp;
Some 10,000 to 20,000 prisoners are currently thought to be housed there, with the most recent arrivals being the 261 people the Trump administration deported from the US.&nbsp;
Also read: <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/new-photos-reveal-brutal-conditions-inside-el-salvadors-mega-prison-for-gang-members-731855">New photos reveal brutal conditions inside El Salvador's mega-prison for gang members</a>
El Salvador&rsquo;s leader Nayib Bukele &ndash; a strongman president, also known as self-styled "world's coolest dictator", offered to house the US deportees in Cecot as part of a deal in which the US would pay $6 million dollars in return.&nbsp;
(With inputs from agencies)

World: El Salvador’s Cecot mega-prison, an acronym for Terrorism Confinement Centre in Spanish, is Latin America's biggest prison with a capacity for 40,000 inmates.

US President Donald Trump has sent hundreds of mostly Venezuelan migrants to El Salvador's mega prison, which is known for its 'harsh conditions'. The imprison facility has drawn both criticism as well as appreciation from several groups. El Salvador’s Cecot mega-prison, an acronym for Terrorism Confinement Centre in Spanish, is Latin America's biggest prison with a capacity for 40,000 inmates. The 23-hectare prison is located isolated in a rural region 70 km east of the capital San Salvador. The prison is home to the country's most hardened criminals, including mass murderers and gang members billed as the “worst of the worst”. Also read: ‘Could get jailed in El Salvador prisons’: Trump threatens ‘terrorists’ harming Musk, Tesla with 20-year jail What happens in the prison? In the El Salvador prison, men are held for 23.5 hours a day and the "only furniture is tiered metal bunks, with no sheets, pillows or mattresses...an open toilet, a cement basin and plastic bucket for washing and a large jug for drinking water", CNN reported. The officers at the prison held the heads of the deportees who came to the US, to their waist level as they escorted them to the facility in shackles. Then they were forced to kneel while prison guards shaved their hair and shouted commands. Also read: El Salvador's ‘mega-prison’ to take in America’s worst criminals, illegal immigrants but 'for a price' “We are executing to the letter a regiment to which you will submit from this moment on, where prison security personnel will be treated with absolute respect! Is that clear?” one officer shouts at the visibly disturbed inmates in a video shared by the Salvadoran government. The prisoners after being transferred to the facility, were stripped down to white boxer shorts, with their heads shaved as they were forced to run into their cells, according to images published by the government in 2023. According to a CNN report, men were allowed out of their crowded cells for just 30 minutes a day, that “there is no privacy here, no trace of comfort” and the lights were on 24/7. Also read: El Salvador to transfer 'big chunk' of bitcoin to physical vault “They do not work. They are not allowed books or a deck of cards or letters from home. Plates of food are stacked outside the cells at mealtimes and pulled through the bars. No meat is ever served. The 30-minute daily respite is merely to leave the cell for the central hallway for group exercise or Bible readings,” CNN reported. Moreover, the inmates are also not allowed visits from family or friends and some of them must face the possibility of never being released. Some 10,000 to 20,000 prisoners are currently thought to be housed there, with the most recent arrivals being the 261 people the Trump administration deported from the US. Also read: New photos reveal brutal conditions inside El Salvador's mega-prison for gang members El Salvador’s leader Nayib Bukele – a strongman president, also known as self-styled "world's coolest dictator", offered to house the US deportees in Cecot as part of a deal in which the US would pay $6 million dollars in return. (With inputs from agencies)

‘Heads shaved, stripped down...’: How horribly inmates are treated in El Salvador’s mega prison

On March 27 last year, the Central American nation of El Salvador imposed a State of Emergency. The move came after the murder of 62 Salvadorans the previous day. Now, 2,000 inmates have been moved to a new mega-prison, the latest step in a controversial crackdown on crime.

El Salvador's new mega-prison faces criticism, only two sinks and washrooms in each cell

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