Montana: The Prison Guard Identified as Torturer of Mariona Prison

Monday, August 19, 2024
Carlos Martínez
El Faro first published this article in Spanish in October 2023.

Inside Mariona Prison in El Salvador, there is an individual who appears recurrently in the testimonies of those who were imprisoned under the state of exception. Someone who everyone remembers by his nickname, Montaña, and who is singled out as a torturer and as the head of prison guards who commit torture. Ex-prisoners describe him as a corpulent and violent man, with the prerogative of giving orders to the guards and strutting up and down different sectors of the prison without any restrictions.

Montaña’s name is William Ernesto Magaña Rodríguez. He is originally from Turín, Ahuachapán, and, according to sources familiar with the internal operations at El Salvador’s Bureau of Prisons, began working as a security employee at Izalco Prison in 2006.

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William Ernesto Magaña Rodríguez

During the 29 months that the state of emergency has been in effect, authorities have acknowledged the capture of more than 81,000 people, of which 7,000 have been released––according to the last official figures provided in August 2023 by the Minister of Justice and Security, Gustavo Villatoro––after no connection was found between these people and gangs.

Since the beginning of the regime, complaints of mistreatment inside prisons continue to grow: torture, humiliating treatment, withholding of food and medicine, isolation, and even murder have been documented by civil human rights organizations and the independent press.

During the first year of the state of emergency, enacted in March 2022, the human rights organization Cristosal documented at least 153 people who died inside prisons, of which at least 75 had signs indicating that their deaths had been violent. Through July 22, 2024, 309 people had died in prison under the state of exception: 305 adults and four babies, according to data from Socorro Jurídico Humanitario.

More:
https://elfaro.net/en/202408/el_salvador/27531/montana-the-prison-guard-identified-as-torturer-of-mariona-prison