San Salvador

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New images released by the authorities in El Salvador mega-prison designed to accommodate members of the country's most dangerous gangs show the horrible conditions the inmates live in. The vast facility in Tecoluca, known as the Cecot (Centre for the Confinement of Terrorism), can accommodate more than 40,000 convicts, according to sources.

The Salvadoran government revealed photographs of scores of severely tattooed, shirt-sleeved convicts who were being moved to the highest security prison.

Prisoners are always afraid of being tortured or killed when imprisoned in cramped, artificially illuminated cells.

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The vast facility in Tecoluca, known as the Cecot (Centre for the Confinement of Terrorism), can contain over 40,000 convicts, according to sources.

No prisoner who has been admitted has ever been freed. One photograph depicts men with clean-shaven heads crowded inside a bus, wrists bound behind their backs and heads bowed forward.

Another photo displays a lengthy row of half-naked inmates standing beneath the vigilant gaze of highly armed guards, their heads down to nearly touch the prisoner in front of them.

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Other photographs show officers counting detainees as they sit on the floor of enormous rooms, hands on their heads. Over 2,000 gang members were reportedly recently sent to the mega-prison from several prisons throughout El Salvador. Most of them are members of the country's two main gangs, MS-13 and Barrio 18.

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This relocation is part of President Nayib Bukele's campaign against narcotics trafficking groups. To tackle street violence, authorities have imprisoned almost 70,000 individuals in the last two years.

Because prison guards are afraid that the utensils may be used as weapons, prisoners are made to eat rice, pasta, or hard-boiled eggs with their hands. Prisoners are only permitted to spend 30 minutes each day outside their cell.

Reports further state that they are only permitted to work out with their body weight since officials are concerned that they would hurt one another while using weights and dumbbells.

(With inputs from agencies)