... The Terrorism Confinement Center,[a] abbreviated CECOT, is a maximum security prison in Tecoluca, El Salvador. The prison was built in late 2022 amid a large-scale gang crackdown in the country. The Salvadoran government opened the prison in January 2023, and it began housing inmates the following month.
As of 11 June 2024, CECOT had a population of 14,532 inmates. With a capacity for 40,000 inmates, CECOT is the largest prison in Latin America and one of the largest in the world by prisoner capacity. In March 2025, the Salvadoran government incarcerated over 200 deportees that the second Donald Trump administration alleged were Venezuelan gang members. ...
Critics of CECOT have referred to it as a "black hole of human rights".[20] The BBC has indicated that CECOT does not adhere to the Red Cross' international standard that recommends that each prisoner receives at least 3.4 square meters (37 sq ft) of space in a cell; CECOT on average gives prisoners 0.6 square meters (6.5 sq ft) of space.[19] Martin Horn, a former administrator of the Rikers Island prison in the United States, stated that 40,000 prisoners is "too many to manage in one place [...] under any circumstances", referring to the prison's listed capacity.[17] There are not enough bunks for every prisoner assigned to each cell;[24] when the BBC asked Garca what the maximum capacity of each cell was, he replied that "where you can fit 10 people, you can fit 20".[20] ...
The BBC has also indicated that prisoners are deprived of rights such as outside recreation and family visitation outlined by international guidelines.[19] Juan Carlos Snchez, a program officer of the Due Process of Law Foundation, raised concerns about the quality of food served at CECOT. He also questioned the status of due process as the prison incarcerated both convicted criminals and individuals on trial for their alleged crimes. He warns that prisoners could become "sick physically, mentally" and "come out with rage".[22] Antonio Durn, a senior judge in Zacatecoluca, said that the conditions in CECOT amount to "torture".[19] Zaira Navas, a legal advisor at the Cristosal NGO, states that it is difficult to monitor conditions inside CECOT and that conditions "might become inhumane and degrading because no-one has access to that prison".[19] Doug Specht, a human rights scholar at the University of Westminster, wrote in The SAIS Review of International Affairs that conditions in CECOT "fall significantly short of accepted norms for the humane treatment of prisoners".[70]
Amnesty International raised concerns that CECOT "could threaten human rights" ("podra amenazar DD.HH") and that the prison represented "politics of mass incarceration" ("poltica de encarcelamiento masivo").[71] ...
