El Salvador has opened a new prison for 40,000 inmates, one of the largest in the world. It has been built to help the country’s overpopulated prisons.
The Terrorist Confinement Center, 70 km from the capital, has 37 guard towers and 8 cell blocks. It is said to be among the safest in Latin America. The prison will be guarded by 600 soldiers and 250 police officers.
More prison capacity has become necessary after a wave of murders hit the Central American country in March of last year. The government announced a war on crime and has been targeting criminal gangs. Since then, about 60,000 people, about 2% of the country’s adults, have been arrested. Authorities have also limited people’s rights in some cases.
Human rights organizations have criticized the government’s crackdown on crime. They say that some people are arrested only because they live in dangerous areas or know gang members.
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