Latin America: Crisis Behind Bars

Latin America: Crisis Behind Bars
© BBC MMV

Note: Goto websources for pictures. ~PSL
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http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/4415294.stm

Bolivia's prison children:
Wednesday, 16 November 2005

In the first of a series about prisons in Latin America, BBC Mundo's Mery Vaca reports on the hundreds of Bolivian children for whom home is a prison cell. Prisons in Bolivia are overcrowded, but not only with adults. More than 1,200 youngsters live there while their parents serve their sentences. The head of Bolivia's penitentiary system, Tomas Molina, believes this situation is unique in the region. Under the country's legislation, children under six years are allowed to stay in their parents' cells. However, Mr Molina acknowledges that they normally remain in jail until they are much older "because nobody else can care for them".

In the detention centre of San Pedro - the most populated male prison in Bolivia's main city, La Paz - there are 200 children. "We have not had any problem with them. There is a sort of internal pact that, if an inmate harms a child, he is likely to face difficulties in the prison," says San Pedro's director, Ramiro Ulloa. Children in that jail receive meals and education under a government-sponsored programme. They are also supervised by humanitarian groups.

'I misbehaved'

Inside the women's prison in La Paz's district of Obrajes, little boys and girls wander freely in the yard as if they were playing at school during a parents' meeting. The jail's director, Celida Vera, says that more than 260 female inmates live there alongside 70 children. Many women have more than one child, and families sometimes have to share very small cells. One of the inmates, Briseida, says that she had to explain her son Carlos Patricio, 9, why she was in prison.

"I told him that I had misbehaved."

Most of the children in Obrajes do not why they live there. Many were born behind bars.

Overcrowding seems to be worse in the Palmasola prison, in the eastern city of Santa Cruz, which holds entire families. Palmasola is considered one of the most dangerous jails in the country. Around 400 women are reportedly living there. "It is like a town", says Tomas Molina.

Worrying future

Living conditions are no better in the central region of Cochabamba, where the female detention centre of San Sebastian also holds a number of children. Alejandra Canelas, a psychologist working in a child day-care centre attached to the jail, claims that youngsters frequently witness violence and even prostitution in the cells. According to the Bolivian authorities, the number of children living in prisons has increased since the 1980s, when the government took a tougher line against drug-trafficking. Entire families ended up in jail because children had nowhere to go when their parents were arrested. In one case, after a police operation in Cochabamba, one family reportedly took their parrot and a dog to prison because they did not want to leave them behind.
The head of Bolivia's penitentiary system believes that the presence of children in the country's jails is not a big problem.

"They would otherwise be on the streets facing the dangers of crime," he says.

But Ms Canelas is not entirely convinced. She says that authorities should be concerned about these boys' and girls' future in society.

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/world/americas/4415294.stm

Published: 2005/11/16 15:03:54 GMT
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http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/4424344.stm

Argentina: Imprisoned without conviction:
Wednesday, 16 November 2005

As part of the BBC News website's series about prisons in Latin America, Martin Murphy reports on the thousands of prisoners who are still waiting to be convicted in Argentina.

Earlier this year a fire during a prison uprising killed 33 inmates near the Argentine capital, Buenos Aires. It was not only the high death toll that came as a shock to many Argentines, but also the fact that most of the dead had not yet been convicted, although most of them were on trial.

Margarita Meira spent 14 months in jail and never went on trial

A report later revealed that 90% of the prison's inmates were in the same situation. Under Argentina's constitution, people are innocent until proven guilty. However, 62% of the 62,500 men and women locked up in the country's prisons have yet to be convicted, official figures show. This is a problem not only affecting Argentina - other Latin American nations face similar difficulties. But the number of Argentine inmates without jail sentences is still comparatively high.

'Contradictory'

The situation in the Buenos Aires province, where detention centres are most crowded, has raised concern among human rights groups. About 75% of inmates there have not been sentenced. How could a judge decide that someone is trying to run away or interfere when his or her culpability has not been established in the first place?

Damian Gosiker criminal lawyer: "It is not a new problem. For years judges have been ordering preventive prison for alleged offenders, which amounts to an anticipated jail sentence," says Damian Gosiker, a criminal lawyer. He explains that preventive prison is designed to avoid suspects escaping while on trial and also interfering with the police investigation.

"These principles seem contradictory," Mr Gosiker says. "How could a judge decide that someone is trying to run away or interfere when his or her culpability has not been established in the first place?"

There are no official figures about the fate of inmates without sentence. But some estimates suggest that 30% of them are cleared once their cases are tried. Those who are cleared do not receive any compensation from the state - even if they have spent several years in jail.

Increase

As in the rest of Latin America, prisons in Argentina are overcrowded, and living conditions behind bars are far from adequate.

A recent uprising left 33 dead

Margarita Meira spent 14 months in the Ezeiza jail near Buenos Aires although she never went on trial. She claims that human rights violations of all kinds are perpetrated in cells. "I have seen 18-year-old girls being beaten and sexually abused," she told the BBC.

The government report says that the prison population in Argentina has increased by 200% in the last seven years. For every 100,000 people, there are currently 84 inmates. But in Buenos Aires province, statistics show there are 200 prisoners for every 100,000 residents. Only Chile as a whole has a higher proportion of inmates in Latin America: 240 for every 100,000.
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http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/4434942.stm

Crime behind bars in Mexico jails:
Thursday, 17 November 2005

As part of the BBC News website's series about prisons in Latin America, Mariusa Reyes reports on the situation in Mexican jails, where criminals are said to remain active despite being behind bars.

It is morning at the North Preventive Jail, one of Mexico City's 11 jails. In the admissions office, guards are busy signing in many new inmates and checking on their belongings, which they call "remittances".

Jails in Mexico are overcrowded

The North Preventive Jail is overcrowded, as are the rest of Mexican prisons. It holds 9,300 people - but it was designed to hold half that number. But overpopulation is not the main problem here - it is crime. This is a medium-to-high security prison. Inmates here have been charged with murder, sexual abuse, kidnapping, robbery and drug-trafficking. Many have yet to be sentenced.
There are only four guards to watch over 300 prisoners, all of whom are considered very dangerous.

"It is a tense situation, inmates are usually aggressive," says Martin Cordoba Gomez, supervisor of the jail's maximum security area.

Mr Cordoba, who has been working at the prison for more than a decade, adds that: "Guards need to learn how to approach them."

'Active criminals'

Guns, drugs, money and mobile phones are frequently smuggled into Mexican jails. The authorities acknowledge that crimes such as kidnapping, drug-smuggling, as well as attacks on rival gangs in Mexico City and other parts of the country, are sometimes planned from within prisons walls. Members of big or small gangs manage to remain active despite being behind bars. They usually operate via their visitors or lawyers

Armando Aguirre security chief at the North Preventive Jail

They believe, for example, that the abduction in July of the Cruz Azul football team's manager, the Argentine Ruben Omar Romano, was masterminded in a jail.

"Members of big or small gangs manage to remain active despite being behind bars. They usually operate via their visitors or lawyers," says Armando Aguirre, security chief at the North Preventive Jail.

The authorities admit that "vulnerability" and "permeability" are significant problems in Mexico's penitentiary system.

"It is pretty evident that some inmates keep on committing offences despite being in prison, possibly with the help of relatives or friends who visit them," says the jail's director, Armando Mendez Gutierrez

Prisoners also communicate with the outside world using mobile phones that have been smuggled in and the 70 public telephones available at the detention centre, according to the authorities.
Mexico's police force is currently testing technology to block mobile signals in the jail and track down calls made from public phones.

'Accomplices outside'

But some claim that corruption and complicity of penitentiary officials are also to blame.

"All sorts of crimes are committed in this prison: robbery, murder, prostitution, and drug and alcohol trafficking," an inmate who asks not to be named says.

Inmates communicate with the outside world using mobile phones

"Those who have money can do whatever they want. Many inmates have accomplices outside who follow their orders", he added. Relatives are allowed to visit four times a week, but some see their loved ones less frequently. This is because they cannot afford expenses like travel, food and other articles they may want to bring to the inmates. Some claim they have to have extra money for bribes in order to smuggle in prohibited items.

"Anything can be smuggled in," says Sonia, whose nephew is serving a prison term.

"There's corruption everywhere. Things don't work for us if we take the right path."
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