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Although the country's two major gangs reached a truce in 2012, the police holding cells currently house more than 3000 inmates, five times more than the official built capacity. Partly because the ordinary Mara gang members did not break with their criminal activities (extortion, street-level distribution of drugs, etc.), partly because Salvadorean police still applies controversial anti-gang law which allows to detain almost anyone for ìsuspicion of gang membershipî. Accused...
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  • A member of the 18th Street gang (M-18) stands behind the bars in a cell at the detention center in San Salvador, El Salvador, 20 February 2014. Although the country's two major gangs reached a truce in 2012, the police holding cells currently house more than 3000 inmates, five times more than the official built capacity. Partly because the ordinary Mara gang members did not break with their criminal activities (extortion, street-level distribution of drugs, etc.), partly because Salvadorean police still applies controversial anti-gang law which allows to detain almost anyone for “suspicion of gang membership”. Accused young men are held in police detention centers where up to 25 inmates may share a cell of five-by-five metres. Here, in the dark overcrowded cages, under harsh and life-threatening conditions, suspected gang members wait long months, sometimes years, for trial or for to be transported to a regular prison.

  • Members of the Mara Salvatrucha gang (MS-13) show hand signs, representing their gang, in a cell at the detention center in San Salvador, El Salvador, 20 February 2014. Although the country's two major gangs reached a truce in 2012, the police holding cells currently house more than 3000 inmates, five times more than the official built capacity. Partly because the ordinary Mara gang members did not break with their criminal activities (extortion, street-level distribution of drugs, etc.), partly because Salvadorean police still applies controversial anti-gang law which allows to detain almost anyone for “suspicion of gang membership”. Accused young men are held in police detention centers where up to 25 inmates may share a cell of five-by-five metres. Here, in the dark overcrowded cages, under harsh and life-threatening conditions, suspected gang members wait long months, sometimes years, for trial or for to be transported to a regular prison.

  • Mara gang members, having hands behind theirs heads and sitting on the floor, pass through a random search at the detention center in San Salvador, El Salvador, 20 February 2014. Although the country's two major gangs reached a truce in 2012, the police holding cells currently house more than 3000 inmates, five times more than the official built capacity. Partly because the ordinary Mara gang members did not break with their criminal activities (extortion, street-level distribution of drugs, etc.), partly because Salvadorean police still applies controversial anti-gang law which allows to detain almost anyone for “suspicion of gang membership”. Accused young men are held in police detention centers where up to 25 inmates may share a cell of five-by-five metres. Here, in the dark overcrowded cages, under harsh and life-threatening conditions, suspected gang members wait long months, sometimes years, for trial or for to be transported to a regular prison.

  • A local leader of the Mara Salvatrucha gang (MS-13) shows a hand sign, representing his gang, in a cell at the detention center in San Salvador, El Salvador, 20 February 2014. Although the country's two major gangs reached a truce in 2012, the police holding cells currently house more than 3000 inmates, five times more than the official built capacity. Partly because the ordinary Mara gang members did not break with their criminal activities (extortion, street-level distribution of drugs, etc.), partly because Salvadorean police still applies controversial anti-gang law which allows to detain almost anyone for “suspicion of gang membership”. Accused young men are held in police detention centers where up to 25 inmates may share a cell of five-by-five metres. Here, in the dark overcrowded cages, under harsh and life-threatening conditions, suspected gang members wait long months, sometimes years, for trial or for to be transported to a regular prison.

  • A view inside a cell, where Mara gang members are arrested, during a random cell search at the detention center in San Salvador, El Salvador, 20 February 2014. Although the country's two major gangs reached a truce in 2012, the police holding cells currently house more than 3000 inmates, five times more than the official built capacity. Partly because the ordinary Mara gang members did not break with their criminal activities (extortion, street-level distribution of drugs, etc.), partly because Salvadorean police still applies controversial anti-gang law which allows to detain almost anyone for “suspicion of gang membership”. Accused young men are held in police detention centers where up to 25 inmates may share a cell of five-by-five metres. Here, in the dark overcrowded cages, under harsh and life-threatening conditions, suspected gang members wait long months, sometimes years, for trial or for to be transported to a regular prison.

  • Members of the 18th Street gang (M-18) stand behind the bars in a cell at the detention center in San Salvador, El Salvador, 20 February 2014. Although the country's two major gangs reached a truce in 2012, the police holding cells currently house more than 3000 inmates, five times more than the official built capacity. Partly because the ordinary Mara gang members did not break with their criminal activities (extortion, street-level distribution of drugs, etc.), partly because Salvadorean police still applies controversial anti-gang law which allows to detain almost anyone for “suspicion of gang membership”. Accused young men are held in police detention centers where up to 25 inmates may share a cell of five-by-five metres. Here, in the dark overcrowded cages, under harsh and life-threatening conditions, suspected gang members wait long months, sometimes years, for trial or for to be transported to a regular prison.

  • Alleged Mara gang members are handcuffed by a police officer from the special Anti-gang unit at the detention center in San Salvador, El Salvador, 13 December 2013. Although the country's two major gangs reached a truce in 2012, the police holding cells currently house more than 3000 inmates, five times more than the official built capacity. Partly because the ordinary Mara gang members did not break with their criminal activities (extortion, street-level distribution of drugs, etc.), partly because Salvadorean police still applies controversial anti-gang law which allows to detain almost anyone for “suspicion of gang membership”. Accused young men are held in police detention centers where up to 25 inmates may share a cell of five-by-five metres. Here, in the dark overcrowded cages, under harsh and life-threatening conditions, suspected gang members wait long months, sometimes years, for trial or for to be transported to a regular prison.

  • A prison guard searches for drugs, weapons and other banned items in a Mara gang members cell during a random cell search at the detention center in San Salvador, El Salvador, 20 February 2014. Although the country's two major gangs reached a truce in 2012, the police holding cells currently house more than 3000 inmates, five times more than the official built capacity. Partly because the ordinary Mara gang members did not break with their criminal activities (extortion, street-level distribution of drugs, etc.), partly because Salvadorean police still applies controversial anti-gang law which allows to detain almost anyone for “suspicion of gang membership”. Accused young men are held in police detention centers where up to 25 inmates may share a cell of five-by-five metres. Here, in the dark overcrowded cages, under harsh and life-threatening conditions, suspected gang members wait long months, sometimes years, for trial or for to be transported to a regular prison.

  • A member of the 18th Street gang (M-18) sits in a homemade hammock in a cell at the detention center in San Salvador, El Salvador, 20 February 2014. Although the country's two major gangs reached a truce in 2012, the police holding cells currently house more than 3000 inmates, five times more than the official built capacity. Partly because the ordinary Mara gang members did not break with their criminal activities (extortion, street-level distribution of drugs, etc.), partly because Salvadorean police still applies controversial anti-gang law which allows to detain almost anyone for “suspicion of gang membership”. Accused young men are held in police detention centers where up to 25 inmates may share a cell of five-by-five metres. Here, in the dark overcrowded cages, under harsh and life-threatening conditions, suspected gang members wait long months, sometimes years, for trial or for to be transported to a regular prison.

  • Mara gang members are seen behind the bars of overcrowded cells at the detention center in San Salvador, El Salvador, 20 February 2014. Although the country's two major gangs reached a truce in 2012, the police holding cells currently house more than 3000 inmates, five times more than the official built capacity. Partly because the ordinary Mara gang members did not break with their criminal activities (extortion, street-level distribution of drugs, etc.), partly because Salvadorean police still applies controversial anti-gang law which allows to detain almost anyone for “suspicion of gang membership”. Accused young men are held in police detention centers where up to 25 inmates may share a cell of five-by-five metres. Here, in the dark overcrowded cages, under harsh and life-threatening conditions, suspected gang members wait long months, sometimes years, for trial or for to be transported to a regular prison.

  • Alleged Mara gang members, detained by the Police emergency unit, pass through the initial search on the yard at the detention center in San Salvador, El Salvador, 20 February 2014. Although the country's two major gangs reached a truce in 2012, the police holding cells currently house more than 3000 inmates, five times more than the official built capacity. Partly because the ordinary Mara gang members did not break with their criminal activities (extortion, street-level distribution of drugs, etc.), partly because Salvadorean police still applies controversial anti-gang law which allows to detain almost anyone for “suspicion of gang membership”. Accused young men are held in police detention centers where up to 25 inmates may share a cell of five-by-five metres. Here, in the dark overcrowded cages, under harsh and life-threatening conditions, suspected gang members wait long months, sometimes years, for trial or for to be transported to a regular prison.

  • Mara gang members are seen behind the bars of overcrowded cells at the detention center in San Salvador, El Salvador, 20 February 2014. Although the country's two major gangs reached a truce in 2012, the police holding cells currently house more than 3000 inmates, five times more than the official built capacity. Partly because the ordinary Mara gang members did not break with their criminal activities (extortion, street-level distribution of drugs, etc.), partly because Salvadorean police still applies controversial anti-gang law which allows to detain almost anyone for “suspicion of gang membership”. Accused young men are held in police detention centers where up to 25 inmates may share a cell of five-by-five metres. Here, in the dark overcrowded cages, under harsh and life-threatening conditions, suspected gang members wait long months, sometimes years, for trial or for to be transported to a regular prison.

  • Members of the 18th Street gang (M-18) stand behind the bars in a cell at the detention center in San Salvador, El Salvador, 20 February 2014. Although the country's two major gangs reached a truce in 2012, the police holding cells currently house more than 3000 inmates, five times more than the official built capacity. Partly because the ordinary Mara gang members did not break with their criminal activities (extortion, street-level distribution of drugs, etc.), partly because Salvadorean police still applies controversial anti-gang law which allows to detain almost anyone for “suspicion of gang membership”. Accused young men are held in police detention centers where up to 25 inmates may share a cell of five-by-five metres. Here, in the dark overcrowded cages, under harsh and life-threatening conditions, suspected gang members wait long months, sometimes years, for trial or for to be transported to a regular prison.

  • White socks and insoles of alleged Mara gang members are seen thrown away after the initial search on the yard at the detention center in San Salvador, El Salvador, 20 February 2014. Although the country's two major gangs reached a truce in 2012, the police holding cells currently house more than 3000 inmates, five times more than the official built capacity. Partly because the ordinary Mara gang members did not break with their criminal activities (extortion, street-level distribution of drugs, etc.), partly because Salvadorean police still applies controversial anti-gang law which allows to detain almost anyone for “suspicion of gang membership”. Accused young men are held in police detention centers where up to 25 inmates may share a cell of five-by-five metres. Here, in the dark overcrowded cages, under harsh and life-threatening conditions, suspected gang members wait long months, sometimes years, for trial or for to be transported to a regular prison.

  • A member of the Mara Salvatrucha gang (MS-13) shows a hand sign, representing his gang, in a cell at the detention center in San Salvador, El Salvador, 20 February 2014. Although the country's two major gangs reached a truce in 2012, the police holding cells currently house more than 3000 inmates, five times more than the official built capacity. Partly because the ordinary Mara gang members did not break with their criminal activities (extortion, street-level distribution of drugs, etc.), partly because Salvadorean police still applies controversial anti-gang law which allows to detain almost anyone for “suspicion of gang membership”. Accused young men are held in police detention centers where up to 25 inmates may share a cell of five-by-five metres. Here, in the dark overcrowded cages, under harsh and life-threatening conditions, suspected gang members wait long months, sometimes years, for trial or for to be transported to a regular prison.

  • A Mara gang member looks through the bars in a cell at the detention center in San Salvador, El Salvador, 20 February 2014. Although the country's two major gangs reached a truce in 2012, the police holding cells currently house more than 3000 inmates, five times more than the official built capacity. Partly because the ordinary Mara gang members did not break with their criminal activities (extortion, street-level distribution of drugs, etc.), partly because Salvadorean police still applies controversial anti-gang law which allows to detain almost anyone for “suspicion of gang membership”. Accused young men are held in police detention centers where up to 25 inmates may share a cell of five-by-five metres. Here, in the dark overcrowded cages, under harsh and life-threatening conditions, suspected gang members wait long months, sometimes years, for trial or for to be transported to a regular prison.

  • Members of the Mara Salvatrucha gang (MS-13) eat lunch in an overcrowded cell at the detention center in San Salvador, El Salvador, 20 February 2014. Although the country's two major gangs reached a truce in 2012, the police holding cells currently house more than 3000 inmates, five times more than the official built capacity. Partly because the ordinary Mara gang members did not break with their criminal activities (extortion, street-level distribution of drugs, etc.), partly because Salvadorean police still applies controversial anti-gang law which allows to detain almost anyone for “suspicion of gang membership”. Accused young men are held in police detention centers where up to 25 inmates may share a cell of five-by-five metres. Here, in the dark overcrowded cages, under harsh and life-threatening conditions, suspected gang members wait long months, sometimes years, for trial or for to be transported to a regular prison.

  • A view inside a cell, where Mara gang members are arrested, during a random cell search at the detention center in San Salvador, El Salvador, 20 February 2014. Although the country's two major gangs reached a truce in 2012, the police holding cells currently house more than 3000 inmates, five times more than the official built capacity. Partly because the ordinary Mara gang members did not break with their criminal activities (extortion, street-level distribution of drugs, etc.), partly because Salvadorean police still applies controversial anti-gang law which allows to detain almost anyone for “suspicion of gang membership”. Accused young men are held in police detention centers where up to 25 inmates may share a cell of five-by-five metres. Here, in the dark overcrowded cages, under harsh and life-threatening conditions, suspected gang members wait long months, sometimes years, for trial or for to be transported to a regular prison.

  • Alleged members of the Mara Salvatrucha gang (MS-13), detained by the Police emergency unit, are seen on the yard at the detention center in San Salvador, El Salvador, 13 December 2013. Although the country's two major gangs reached a truce in 2012, the police holding cells currently house more than 3000 inmates, five times more than the official built capacity. Partly because the ordinary Mara gang members did not break with their criminal activities (extortion, street-level distribution of drugs, etc.), partly because Salvadorean police still applies controversial anti-gang law which allows to detain almost anyone for “suspicion of gang membership”. Accused young men are held in police detention centers where up to 25 inmates may share a cell of five-by-five metres. Here, in the dark overcrowded cages, under harsh and life-threatening conditions, suspected gang members wait long months, sometimes years, for trial or for to be transported to a regular prison.

  • A member of the Mara Salvatrucha gang (MS-13) stands behind the bars in a cell at the detention center in San Salvador, El Salvador, 20 February 2014. Although the country's two major gangs reached a truce in 2012, the police holding cells currently house more than 3000 inmates, five times more than the official built capacity. Partly because the ordinary Mara gang members did not break with their criminal activities (extortion, street-level distribution of drugs, etc.), partly because Salvadorean police still applies controversial anti-gang law which allows to detain almost anyone for “suspicion of gang membership”. Accused young men are held in police detention centers where up to 25 inmates may share a cell of five-by-five metres. Here, in the dark overcrowded cages, under harsh and life-threatening conditions, suspected gang members wait long months, sometimes years, for trial or for to be transported to a regular prison.

  • Alleged Mara gang members are seen handcuffed, using plastic straps, in a detention center in San Salvador, El Salvador, 20 February 2014. Although the country's two major gangs reached a truce in 2012, the police holding cells currently house more than 3000 inmates, five times more than the official built capacity. Partly because the ordinary Mara gang members did not break with their criminal activities (extortion, street-level distribution of drugs, etc.), partly because Salvadorean police still applies controversial anti-gang law which allows to detain almost anyone for “suspicion of gang membership”. Accused young men are held in police detention centers where up to 25 inmates may share a cell of five-by-five metres. Here, in the dark overcrowded cages, under harsh and life-threatening conditions, suspected gang members wait long months, sometimes years, for trial or for to be transported to a regular prison.

  • Members of the Mara Salvatrucha gang (MS-13) stand behind the bars in a cell at the detention center in San Salvador, El Salvador, 20 February 2014. Although the country's two major gangs reached a truce in 2012, the police holding cells currently house more than 3000 inmates, five times more than the official built capacity. Partly because the ordinary Mara gang members did not break with their criminal activities (extortion, street-level distribution of drugs, etc.), partly because Salvadorean police still applies controversial anti-gang law which allows to detain almost anyone for “suspicion of gang membership”. Accused young men are held in police detention centers where up to 25 inmates may share a cell of five-by-five metres. Here, in the dark overcrowded cages, under harsh and life-threatening conditions, suspected gang members wait long months, sometimes years, for trial or for to be transported to a regular prison.

  • A prison guard searches for drugs, weapons and other banned items in a Mara gang members cell during a random cell search at the detention center in San Salvador, El Salvador, 20 February 2014. Although the country's two major gangs reached a truce in 2012, the police holding cells currently house more than 3000 inmates, five times more than the official built capacity. Partly because the ordinary Mara gang members did not break with their criminal activities (extortion, street-level distribution of drugs, etc.), partly because Salvadorean police still applies controversial anti-gang law which allows to detain almost anyone for “suspicion of gang membership”. Accused young men are held in police detention centers where up to 25 inmates may share a cell of five-by-five metres. Here, in the dark overcrowded cages, under harsh and life-threatening conditions, suspected gang members wait long months, sometimes years, for trial or for to be transported to a regular prison.

  • A member of the 18th Street gang (M-18) shows a hand sign, representing his gang, in a cell at the detention center in San Salvador, El Salvador, 20 February 2014. Although the country's two major gangs reached a truce in 2012, the police holding cells currently house more than 3000 inmates, five times more than the official built capacity. Partly because the ordinary Mara gang members did not break with their criminal activities (extortion, street-level distribution of drugs, etc.), partly because Salvadorean police still applies controversial anti-gang law which allows to detain almost anyone for “suspicion of gang membership”. Accused young men are held in police detention centers where up to 25 inmates may share a cell of five-by-five metres. Here, in the dark overcrowded cages, under harsh and life-threatening conditions, suspected gang members wait long months, sometimes years, for trial or for to be transported to a regular prison.

  • Mara gang members are seen behind the bars of overcrowded cells at the detention center in San Salvador, El Salvador, 20 February 2014. Although the country's two major gangs reached a truce in 2012, the police holding cells currently house more than 3000 inmates, five times more than the official built capacity. Partly because the ordinary Mara gang members did not break with their criminal activities (extortion, street-level distribution of drugs, etc.), partly because Salvadorean police still applies controversial anti-gang law which allows to detain almost anyone for “suspicion of gang membership”. Accused young men are held in police detention centers where up to 25 inmates may share a cell of five-by-five metres. Here, in the dark overcrowded cages, under harsh and life-threatening conditions, suspected gang members wait long months, sometimes years, for trial or for to be transported to a regular prison.

  • A member of the Mara Salvatrucha gang (MS-13) shows a hand sign, representing his gang, in a cell at the detention center in San Salvador, El Salvador, 20 February 2014. Although the country's two major gangs reached a truce in 2012, the police holding cells currently house more than 3000 inmates, five times more than the official built capacity. Partly because the ordinary Mara gang members did not break with their criminal activities (extortion, street-level distribution of drugs, etc.), partly because Salvadorean police still applies controversial anti-gang law which allows to detain almost anyone for “suspicion of gang membership”. Accused young men are held in police detention centers where up to 25 inmates may share a cell of five-by-five metres. Here, in the dark overcrowded cages, under harsh and life-threatening conditions, suspected gang members wait long months, sometimes years, for trial or for to be transported to a regular prison.

  • Mara gang members are seen behind the bars of overcrowded cells at the detention center in San Salvador, El Salvador, 20 February 2014. Although the country's two major gangs reached a truce in 2012, the police holding cells currently house more than 3000 inmates, five times more than the official built capacity. Partly because the ordinary Mara gang members did not break with their criminal activities (extortion, street-level distribution of drugs, etc.), partly because Salvadorean police still applies controversial anti-gang law which allows to detain almost anyone for “suspicion of gang membership”. Accused young men are held in police detention centers where up to 25 inmates may share a cell of five-by-five metres. Here, in the dark overcrowded cages, under harsh and life-threatening conditions, suspected gang members wait long months, sometimes years, for trial or for to be transported to a regular prison.

  • A local leader of the Mara Salvatrucha gang (MS-13) shows a hand sign, representing his gang, in a cell at the detention center in San Salvador, El Salvador, 20 February 2014. Although the country's two major gangs reached a truce in 2012, the police holding cells currently house more than 3000 inmates, five times more than the official built capacity. Partly because the ordinary Mara gang members did not break with their criminal activities (extortion, street-level distribution of drugs, etc.), partly because Salvadorean police still applies controversial anti-gang law which allows to detain almost anyone for “suspicion of gang membership”. Accused young men are held in police detention centers where up to 25 inmates may share a cell of five-by-five metres. Here, in the dark overcrowded cages, under harsh and life-threatening conditions, suspected gang members wait long months, sometimes years, for trial or for to be transported to a regular prison.

  • A view inside a cell, where Mara Salvatrucha gang members are arrested, during a random cell search at the detention center in San Salvador, El Salvador, 20 February 2014. Although the country's two major gangs reached a truce in 2012, the police holding cells currently house more than 3000 inmates, five times more than the official built capacity. Partly because the ordinary Mara gang members did not break with their criminal activities (extortion, street-level distribution of drugs, etc.), partly because Salvadorean police still applies controversial anti-gang law which allows to detain almost anyone for “suspicion of gang membership”. Accused young men are held in police detention centers where up to 25 inmates may share a cell of five-by-five metres. Here, in the dark overcrowded cages, under harsh and life-threatening conditions, suspected gang members wait long months, sometimes years, for trial or for to be transported to a regular prison.

  • Mara gang members, having hands behind theirs heads and sitting on the floor, pass through a random search at the detention center in San Salvador, El Salvador, 20 February 2014. Although the country's two major gangs reached a truce in 2012, the police holding cells currently house more than 3000 inmates, five times more than the official built capacity. Partly because the ordinary Mara gang members did not break with their criminal activities (extortion, street-level distribution of drugs, etc.), partly because Salvadorean police still applies controversial anti-gang law which allows to detain almost anyone for “suspicion of gang membership”. Accused young men are held in police detention centers where up to 25 inmates may share a cell of five-by-five metres. Here, in the dark overcrowded cages, under harsh and life-threatening conditions, suspected gang members wait long months, sometimes years, for trial or for to be transported to a regular prison.

  • Mara gang members are seen behind the bars of overcrowded cells at the detention center in San Salvador, El Salvador, 20 February 2014. Although the country's two major gangs reached a truce in 2012, the police holding cells currently house more than 3000 inmates, five times more than the official built capacity. Partly because the ordinary Mara gang members did not break with their criminal activities (extortion, street-level distribution of drugs, etc.), partly because Salvadorean police still applies controversial anti-gang law which allows to detain almost anyone for “suspicion of gang membership”. Accused young men are held in police detention centers where up to 25 inmates may share a cell of five-by-five metres. Here, in the dark overcrowded cages, under harsh and life-threatening conditions, suspected gang members wait long months, sometimes years, for trial or for to be transported to a regular prison.

  • Members of the Mara Salvatrucha gang (MS-13) are seen behind the bars in an overcrowded cell at the detention center in San Salvador, El Salvador, 20 February 2014. Although the country's two major gangs reached a truce in 2012, the police holding cells currently house more than 3000 inmates, five times more than the official built capacity. Partly because the ordinary Mara gang members did not break with their criminal activities (extortion, street-level distribution of drugs, etc.), partly because Salvadorean police still applies controversial anti-gang law which allows to detain almost anyone for “suspicion of gang membership”. Accused young men are held in police detention centers where up to 25 inmates may share a cell of five-by-five metres. Here, in the dark overcrowded cages, under harsh and life-threatening conditions, suspected gang members wait long months, sometimes years, for trial or for to be transported to a regular prison.