In an unprecedented event, 46 inmates died in a brawl at a Honduran prison, revealing the dehumanization of overcrowded prisons in Honduras. Central America (CA)a region characterized mainly by gang violence and corruption.
On June 20, all hell broke loose in Center for Social Adaptation of Women (Cefas): In the fight and fire, 23 prisoners were killed with blades and firearms, and the other 23 were burned, according to information from the Honduran authorities.
The first versions count a gang standoffwhich have already made the violent deaths of their opponents in overcrowded and overcrowded male prisons an almost common occurrence.
There were about 1,000 prisoners in Cefas when the capacity was 400, according to the data available data.
Last May, during a site visit, Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) confirmed the “worrying overcrowding” in Cefas, Liliana Caballero, advocacy officer at the Center for Justice and International Law (Cejil), an entity linked to the inter-American human rights system, emphasized to EFE.
“The tragedy of Brush This is the result of the state’s failure to improve and take care of prison conditions in the country,” Caballero said.
“Very serious” problem of overcrowding and overcrowding in prisons in Latin America“it triggers many situations of human rights violations” and is fertile ground for “unfortunate massacres”, he said during a regular hearing IACHR in October 2021, the rapporteur on the rights of persons deprived of their liberty, Edgar Ralón.
OVERCROWDING AND OVERCROWDING
Prison population Central America has close to 197,000 peopleaccording to government and non-governmental organization data collected by EFE.
Data collected by World Prison Platform (WPB) show that the prison population doubled in Panama and Honduras between 2000 and 2020, a period in which it quintupled in El Salvador and quadrupled in Guatemala.
This phenomenon is due, according to analysts and non-governmental organizationsto the excessive use of preventive detention and the increase in criminal types, along with the increase in crime.
All Central American prison systems They are overcrowded (when the capacity of the space is exceeded) and overcrowded (when there is not enough space for the people who are there).
“Chronic problem in Central America it’s the overcrowding of prisons,” Colombian Juanita Goebertus, director of the Americas division of Human Rights Watch (HRW), told EFE on Friday.
He cited the case Guatemalawhere “there are three times more prisoners than prison capacity, according to available data”, which contrasts with Costa Rica, which “in recent years has managed to reduce overcrowding, which currently stands at 7%”.
In 2022, Guatemala was incarcerated with prison overcrowding of 363%, the highest in Latin Americaaccording to a report published by the National Center for Economic Research (CIEN).
IN El Salvador, University Observatory for Human Rights (OUDH) It put prison overcrowding at 247.6% as of July 2022, five months into a government campaign against violent gangs that has put tens of thousands of its alleged members behind bars.
According to WPB, the occupancy level The Panamanian prison system last March it was 152.4%; in Honduras 150.8% as of October 2022; and Nicaragua at 177.6% as of October 2018.
The WPB, which uses data mainly derived from government sources or other official sources, shows that preventive detention represents from 19.9% of prisoners in Costa Rica to 53.7% in Honduras.
“It is important that Countries in Central America have effective control over prisons. Critical to this is reducing overcrowding by reducing the use of pretrial detention, which is excessive and accounts for about 50% of the entire prison population in Guatemala and Honduras, for example,” Goebertus said.
In addition, he indicated, “prisons must be run by professionally trained civilians, not police or armed forces,” and that “the state must guarantee decent prison conditions and job and educational opportunities” that guarantee social reintegration.
THE WORST TRAGEDIES OF RECENT YEARS
The slaughter at Kefa It is the first registered in a women’s prison in Honduras, a country where 1,050 female inmates died violently between 2003 and 2019, according to data National Commissioner for Human Rights (Conadeh).
In one of those events, recorded on February 14, 2012, in Comayagua Penal Farm360 camp inmates and one woman who was visiting her husband were burned.
IN Savior14 inmates of the Barrio 18 gang were killed in 2015 in the Quezaltepeque prison in a fight, while in Panama 12 inmates died in December 2019 in a shootout between rival gangs.
Source: Panama America
I am Amelia James, a passionate journalist with a deep-rooted interest in current affairs. I have more than five years of experience in the media industry, working both as an author and editor for 24 Instant News. My main focus lies in international news, particularly regional conflicts and political issues around the world.
