Honduras adopts El Salvador-style tactics in anti-gang crackdown on prison inmates

Source: Associated Press

Honduras adopts El Salvador-style tactics in anti-gang crackdown on prison inmates

Published 1:37 PM EDT, June 26, 2023

TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras (AP) — Authorities in Honduras forced inmates to sit half-naked in tight rows while they searched for contraband in a sweep of prisons Monday, similar to the harsh tactics of neighboring El Salvador. They also arrested a suspect in a weekend pool hall shooting that killed 11 people.

The prison sweep demonstrated the Honduran government’s resolve to crack down on gangs following last week’s gang-related massacre of 46 female inmates in the worst atrocity at a women’s prison in recent memory. Police said they were considering the possibility that the pool hall shooting on Saturday was related to the prison violence.

On Monday, the military police — who have taken charge of the nation’s prisons — fanned out across several prisons, emptying cell blocks and forcing inmates to sit in rows, spread-legged and nestled against one another. Some were forced to keep their heads bowed and their hands on the back of their necks.

Such tactics — with inmates clad only in shorts, their heads bowed onto the backs of the men in front of them — were made famous last year by Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele during his crackdown on gangs. Bukele’s harsh tactics have led to allegations of human rights abuses but also proved popular with residents in the Central American country where communities are emerging from the oppression of gang extortion and violence.

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Read more: https://apnews.com/article/honduras-massacre-prison-killings-bukele-raid-suspect-1a5252b2bfd88dad659d8d46fca833c4