Director of world’s most dangerous prison reveals the only item inmates are allowed in their cells
Topics: Crime, Film and TV, Documentaries, True crime
Mia Williams
Featured Image Credit: Oscar RIVERA / AFP via Getty Images
Topics: Crime, Film and TV, Documentaries, True crime
Inside the world's deadliest prison where the lights are never switched off, inmates are only allowed one item in their cell, with many serving sentences of over 700 years.
CECOT prison in El Salvador is home to 40,000 of the most dangerous criminals in the whole world, many of them killers.
One inmate admitted during an interview that he had killed 30 people and felt 'no remorse', further adding that he would do the same if he was ever to be let out - which of course, he will not.
Inmates are housed in cells holding 80 to 156 people at a time, each sleeping on multi-level metal beds, without a mattress, pillow, or covers.
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The prison is the size of 32 soccer pitches, making it the largest in the world.
And while it houses some of the most vicious and violent gang members in history, not a single one steps out of line - ever.
Thats's according to prison director Belarmino García, who sends inmates to be locked in a concrete hole with zero light for up to 30 days, if they even dare to think about breaking the extreme rules.
The only item allowed inside the cells is a bible - beyond that, inmates are not allowed screens, books, newspapers, or anything to keep them occupied, and talking must be kept to a minimum.
A new Channel 5 documentary exploring inside CECOT, officially known as the Terrorism Confinement Center, sheds light on the conditions that inmates are subject to - many of which, critics suggest, violate international human rights standards.
The documentary, titled Richard Madeley on Murder Row, sheds light on the prisoners’ daily regime, with inmates spending 23 and a half hours a day inside their cells - just half an hour allocated for exercise.
Director García also noted that lights remain switched on 24/7 in the facility, to ensure that he's always able to 'see what they are doing'.
CECOT was built as part of President Nayib Bukele’s crackdown on gang violence in 2023, and primarily holds alleged gang members of MS-13 and Barrio 18.
The gang members have specific tattoos, and García claimed that simply having the identifiable design inked on your body can land you in CECOT for the rest of your life.
García himself has described the prison as 'hell', where inmates are subject to eating the same meal twice everyday - beans and rice.
Richard Madeley on Murder Row is now available to stream on Channel 5.