The ‘world’s worst prison’ have really put the ‘solitary’ in it’s solitary confinement cells, this chilling footage shows.

El Salvador‘s maximum security prison CECOT (Centre for the Confinement of Terrorism) has a reputation which precedes itself, but seeing the reality for yourself really is a jolt to the system.

The facility, which was opened in 2023, is one of the largest prisons in the world which currently houses tens of thousands of people accused of having gang affiliations.

President Nayib Bukele, 43, opened CECOT in an effort to stomp out gangs and organised crime in the central American nation, however, human rights groups aren’t a fan of the place.

Miguel Sarre, a former member of the United Nations Subcommittee for the Prevention of Torture, previously described the prison as a ‘concrete and steel pit’.

Controversially, US President Donald Trump recently floated the idea of sending foreign citizens who had been convicted in the States there.

The conditions at El Salvador’s mega-prison are brutal (MARVIN RECINOS/AFP via Getty Images)

Inside, inmates are crammed into endless rows of bare metal bunks – without the luxury of a mattress – while they’re forced to have their heads shaved every five days.

As well as following a host of other strict rules, prisoners aren’t permitted to use cutlery and eat with their hands, while each person locked up has to wear a white t-shirt and shorts during their incarceration.

And if you think that sounds bad, just wait until you hear about CECOT’s solitary confinement.

A handful of journalists have been granted access inside the prison since it opened, including Turkish YouTuber and documentary maker Ruhi Çenet.

In a video documenting his visit to the mega-prison shared earlier this month, the content creator discussed how the ‘entire design’ of CECOT ‘doesn’t just prevent escape, it erases the very idea of it’.

He said: “Those who enter this prison are destined to never leave here. This massive prison is made up of eight separate modules spread over 410 acres of land.

YouTuber Ruhi Çenet gave people a tour of the tiny solitary confinement cell at CECOT (YouTube/Ruhi Cenet)

“Each pair of modules is enclosed by two separate 3-meter-high walls with razor wire. The entire facility is surrounded by a towering 9-meter-high wall with a 3-meter-high electric fence carrying 15,000 volts.

“Nineteen watchtowers are ensuring nothing escapes notice,” he added.

And if there’s one thing that’s sure to kill any dreams of escaping among prisoners, it’s got to be the solitary confinement cell.

Ruhi explained that inmates are put inside the claustrophobic rooms for misbehaving, adding: “He won’t know the time or how much longer he’ll be kept inside for – days or even weeks.

“He sleeps on this concrete bed without ever leaving. They are cut off from the outside world, left alone with nothing but their thoughts.”

A guard accompanying the content creator, who visits ‘hard-to-reach places’ around the globe, explained more about solitary confinement at CECOT.

This tiny hole in the ceiling is the only source of light and fresh air (YouTube/Ruhi Cenet)

“If inmates break a rule they can be sent to these isolation cells, according to the legislation,” the prison worker said. “The law gives me the right to keep the prisoners in isolation for up to 15 days.

“These cells have sealed doors,” the guard explained. “Through this grid, I can see them and identify who’s inside.”

Food is also served through this opening, while inmates also have to put their hands through it to be cuffed when they are moved to and from the solitary cell.

It’s pitch black inside of it, as there’s only a single small hole in the ceiling, which serves as the room’s only source of light Ruhi said ‘barely lets the sunshine in.’

The guard continued: “Inside, you don’t even see your hands. So when someone is isolated, it is necessary for them to have something – a book, anything to keep their mind clear. But here they don’t have access to any of that.

“No matter how tough a criminal is, this kind of isolation breaks them. This is necessary for the type of offenders that we have here.”

The guard added: “People who once played God by deciding who would live and who wouldn’t live, [they] deserve the worst punishment. We don’t show them mercy.

“They can ask for forgiveness and may God forgive them. But here, justice must be served for so many victims. It’s the least they deserve.”

Facing up to a fortnight staring at this blank concrete canvas is surely enough to scare the inmates into submission.

Even if it might seem like the most luxurious, dream holiday for many, Dubai comes with a whole host of strict rules that tourists need to follow.

Having headed out there for a family trip, a British teen is currently facing 20 years in a Dubai prison after having sex with a girl.

UAE Civil & Criminal Justice Specialists Detained in Dubai report that 18-year-old Marcus Fakana had travelled to the city for a holiday with his parents back on 26 August.

And while there, the Tottenham lad struck up a romance with a fellow Londoner.

Marcus said they ‘had a wonderful time together’ and they’d hoped to continue their relationship back in the UK.

However, they were having to keep things secret from her family.

18-year-old Marcus faces up to 20 years in prison. (Detained In Dubai)

What led to Marcus’ arrest?

“We really liked each other, but she was secretive with her family because they were strict,” he said.

“My parents knew about our relationship, but she couldn’t tell hers. She had to meet me without telling them it was to see a boy.”

He was excited to see her again when he got home, but then police suddenly showed up at his hotel, and he was taken into custody without any explanation. Marcus was detained for three days, unable to contact his parents.

It is understood that the girl’s mother found the pair’s chats and photos when they returned to the UK, and contacted police in Dubai.

At the time, she was a few months younger than Marcus and has since turned 18.

Dubai recently changed the rules for tourists around sex. (Getty Stock)

What are the rules in Dubai?

Chief executive of Detained in Dubai, Radha Stirling, explained that the recent rule changes in Dubai means sex outside of marriage is legal for tourists, but only if both parties are over the age of 18.

“Dubai has only recently legalised out-of-wedlock sex for tourists but still hosts a strict Islamic legal system,” the campaigner explained.

“The girl was just a few months younger than Marcus and he didn’t know that at the time,” said Stirling. “Since his arrest, she has turned 18.

“This is not something Dubai should be prosecuting.”

Unlike the stricter rules of Dubai, Marcus and the girl’s relationship would not be illegal.

Stirling added that the woman was ‘clearly a very strict mother to involve police in a private matter that is completely legal in the country where she lives and where the children have grown up’.

However, she may not have realised that she was potentially causing Marcus to face up to 20 years in prison.

What is Marcus’ situation now?

“I’m living in Airbnbs that are costing my family £2,000 per month. They had to go home to work. They earn a humble living, my mother is a cleaner and my dad works in a warehouse,” the 18-year-old said.

“They saved up for this one-off holiday and they have now used all of their savings. The police demanded 10,000 AED for bail which I’ve been told is not normal and the costs are mounting.

“I’m here all alone. I pray this nightmare will be over and I’ll be home for Christmas.”

Warning: This article contains discussion of child abuse which some readers may find distressing.

A murderer unknowingly set himself up to receive the ‘maximum sentence’ after a judge let him dictate his own punishment.

Christopher McNabb, from Covington, Georgia, was found guilty of killing his 15-day-old daughter Caliyah in 2019.

Take a look at his sentencing here:

The jury heard how the dad and his girlfriend Courtney Marie Bell were under the influence of crystal meth when he beat the the tragic tot to death in October 2017.

The parents initially told police that their little girl had been abducted from their trailer park home while they were sleeping, and pretended that they had been frantically searching for Caliyah.

The following day, her body was discovered inside of a Nike backpack in a wooded area close to the property.

The court was told that the family’s home was filthy and that the relationship between McNabb and Bell was filled with violence and drug use.

McNabb admitted that he had been physically abusive towards Caliyah’s mother, but told police he was not responsible for the two-week-old baby’s murder.

According to Fox 5 Atlanta, Bell said in her interrogation: “I am guilty because I did drugs, but I ain’t never seen this comin’, that’s my baby. I went to put her to sleep and I woke up and she was gone.”

The parents maintained their innocence throughout the trial, but both were found guilty.

Christopher McNabb insisted he was innocent but was ultimately found guilty of murdering the baby girl (YouTube/11 Alive)

McNabb was convicted of malice murder, felony murder, murder in the second degree, aggravated battery, cruelty to children in the first degree, cruelty to children in the second degree, and concealing the death of another.

Bell was found guilty of second-degree murder, second-degree child cruelty, and contributing to the dependency of a minor.

She was handed a sentence of 30 years, the first 15 of which would be in confinement – although the Georgia Court of Appeals later reversed the murder and cruelty convictions, according to The Covington News.

At McNabb’s sentencing, the killer continued to protest his innocence, and he told the judge: “I’m innocent, I didn’t do it. I’ve maintained that the whole time.

“I just don’t understand how you find somebody guilty of doing something to a 15-day-old baby, because there was no evidence whatsoever that proved anything about me putting my hands on those kids.

“I’ve never done it, I never would. I don’t believe in it. I was beat as a child and I don’t agree with it at all. I would never do it. I would never do this. That’s all I got to say. I’m innocent.”

The judge wasn’t swayed by McNabb’s last ditch attempt at proclaiming his innocence and told the dad that he had ‘one simple question’ to ask him.

He unknowingly set himself up to get the ‘maximum’ sentence (YouTube/11 Alive)

“You claim you’re innocent,” the judge said. “So, you tell me what sentence the man or woman that you claim did this should receive?”

McNabb replied: “If you ever find out who did it, they deserve to be under the jail,” to which the judge then responded: “Okay…so they ought to get the maximum sentence?”

After McNabb said ‘most definitely’, the judge then said: “On the crime of malice murder, I sentence you to life in confinement without parole.”

The prosecutor accused the dad of producing ‘fake tears’ in the courtroom and said the comments he made about how much he loved his children were ‘a joke’.

“That child didn’t do anything but need love, and her daddy killed her,” District Attorney Layla Zon said of Caliyah. “She was a gift to Cortney Bell and Christopher McNabb.

“That child was doomed the moment they left that hospital. They took pure innocence and brought that child into a life of hell.”

A reporter was allowed access inside one of El Salvador’s most notorious prisons – and was left shocked by what he witnessed.

The central American nation of El Salvador was once gripped by gangs and organised crime, previously earning it the title of one of the most dangerous countries in the world.

However, things have drastically changed since President Nayib Bukele came to power in 2019. Promising to eradicate gang violence, the 43-year-old has since implemented a strict crackdown on crime – with over 83,100 people accused of having gang affiliations currently incarcerated.

El Salvador has been in a state of emergency since 2022 (YouTube/CNN)

Over five years on from Bukele’s election, CNN reporter David Culver was granted access inside Cecot, the country’s Terrorism Confinement Centre, which houses heavily tattooed criminals dubbed ‘worst of the worst’.

“It’s tense and uncomfortable,” Culver notes, after being faced with hundreds of shirtless men staring silently at him.

Opened by the authorities in January 2023, Cecot sits in an ‘isolated’ and mountainous area of El Salvador and has total capacity of 40,000. Conditions in the prison are basic, with prisoners sleeping in beds without mattresses and bathing in a communal pool of water. The prison also keeps the lights on 24/7, which makes it difficult for inmates to sleep.

“Officials say comfort isn’t meant to exist [here],” Culver added.

Once inside the prison, the inmates ‘never leave’ with everything from doctor trips to legal visits done within Cecot’s many walls.

The reporter recalls standing face-to-face with the inmates as ‘tense and uncomfortable’ (YouTube/CNN)

Perhaps one of the most shocking revelations from the video was a glimpse into the solitary confinement cells, which are a pitch-black room featuring a single, tiny hole that serves as the room’s only source of light.

“They can be in here for 15 days potentially,” Culver explained.

Although El Salvador’s maximum security prisons have rapidly decreased crime levels in the country, critics have also raised concerns about potential human rights violations as well as innocent people finding themselves wrongly incarcerated.

Earlier this year, the BBC published the story of José Duval Mata, a 26-year-old tractor driver who has been locked up for two years on charges of ‘illicit association’, which is used to describe detainees with no obvious gang links. He remains imprisoned despite the country’s legal system ordering his ‘immediate release’.

Culver’s report notes that Bukele’s administration accepts that innocent people have been wrongly detained, with around 7000 people having been reportedly released. However, they maintain the wrongful arrests were simply ‘collateral damage’.

Despite criticisms and concerns of false imprisonment, Bukele remains hugely popular amongst the population of El Salvador, recently winning his re-election bid back in February by a landslide.