Latin America faces many problems, but there is one that often remains out of sight behind thick walls and wire fences: the chaos in the prisons. As Nelson Mandela commented, we forget that in order to know the state of a nation, we must know the state of its prisons.   No one is interested about what goes on behind those walls; all we want is guilty parties.   Disinformation stops us from realising that what is happening inside these places reflects what is happening on the streets.   In this article we will try to identify the key problems with today's prisons, which will continue to be a burden for our region if we do not take a look beyond those wire fences.

Together and mingling

Overcrowding is without doubt one of the most serious issues facing Latin American prisons. For example, Lurigancho, in Peru, one of the country's largest prisons, has facilities for 2,200 inmates. However, it currently houses 8,513 in deplorable conditions.

In Buenos Aires, the massive population living in the super prisons and jails is an endemic problem. Ten years ago, prison administration declared a state of emergency as the number of inmates doubled the number of available places. Between 1994 and 2004, Buenos Aires' prison population rose by 149%, equal to 29,793 inmates, at the rate of 1,780 new prisoners per year. This situation caused a series of riots and deaths throughout the country in 2004.

In Colombia, between 1990 and 2000, the prison population rose by 50%. The prison called National Model ( Modelo Nacional ) of Bogotá houses more than 5,000 inmates, but has a capacity of less than 2,500.   Colombian prisons should hold just 34,062 prisoners, but are crammed full with some 46,930.

In Costa Rica occurs the same situation.   The number of inmates rose from 3,200 in 1992, to more than 6,000 in 1999.   And, according to Elias Carranza, Director of the United Nations Latin American Institute for the Prevention of Crime and Treatment of Offenders, "Bolivia is overcrowded by 161%, Brasil by 181% and the Dominican Republic by 156% (...) The country with the highest number of inmates is Brasil with 194,704, followed by Mexico with 144,261."

According to Mr. Carranza, a prison overcrowded by 120% is in a critical condition. However, in Latin America prisons in 26 countries exceed this percentage.

What about human rights?

Being deprived of liberty does not imply in any way that the prisoner is no longer a human being.   The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights states in Article 10 that, " All people deprived of liberty will be treated with humanity and with respect for the inherent dignity of a human person."

However, the conditions caused by overcrowding render it impossible for the inmates to live in a dignified manner.   There is a lack of food and medical treatment.   In these living conditions, illnesses such as dysentery and tuberculosis, not to mention AIDS, spread rapidly. Many of these diseases are preventable, but the administration in prisons is unable to cope. In Nairobi, Kenya, for example, each year some 100 prisoners die awaiting trial, many due to malnutrition and suffocation.

Nor is it just disease that causes fatalities. The situation in Kenya is the same as in Latin America, but it is aggravated by violent acts committed by both inmates and the staff. In Venezuela (where overcrowding reaches nearly 400% in some prisons), 274 prisoners died in 1994, at the hands of their fellow inmates.

In August of last year, at least 30 inmates were killed in Guatemala following a stand-off between gangs. The rival gangs known as "Mara 18" and "Mara Salvatrucha" fought incessantly, using firearms, grenades and machetes. The penal authority was unable to control these battles.   In the following September, 12 minors were wounded in the Correctional Centre for Minors "Los Gorriones" (literally 'the sparrows'), due to fights between the "maras".

In 2003, 139 inmates were killed and another 3,399 were wounded in Buenos Aires alone.   The death toll will continue to rise, not just because of illnesses or riots, but also due to the large number of suspicious suicides and fires.   Many cases of torture by the authorities have also been reported, who allow violence between inmates and sometimes even encourage it.   For example, within the first three months of 2004, the Supreme Court of Justice in Buenos Aires received 437 cases of the torture of minors in correctional facilities.   Since 2000, 3,914 cases were brought before the same court.

As well as these human rights abuses, one should point out the boom of private prisons currently sweeping the United Stated, where there are around 2 million prisoners (25% of the world total).   Therefore, prisoners, who are mainly Black and Hispanic, are forced to work for pitiful wages that, in some cases, are as low as US$ 0.17 an hour.   Large corporations such as IBM, Motorola, AT&T, Microsoft, Macy's, Hewlett-Packard, among others, are regular customers of this spectacularly low-cost workforce.

The outlaws' laws

Official law has been replaced by that of the prisoners.   In Peru's Lurigancho, between 1987 and 1992, the prison authority withdrew from within the prison walls, guarding only the parameters. The institution had been abandoned to a stronger command, and José Luis Pérez Guadalupe, a specialist in criminology and the prison's chaplain, dedicated his time to investigate what was going on inside the place.

Mr. Pérez Guadalupe discovered that the inmates had created an entire network of self-governance, based loosely on the rules of the underworld outside the prison. The same situation has arisen in the main prisons of Chile, Argentina, Bolivia and Brasil. In Peru, the "Taitas" run the prisons; in Chile, the "Cuadrilla" bosses; in Argentina, the "Ranchada" leaders; and in Brasilian prisons, it is the "Malandros" who reign.

As we can see throughout Latin America, prison staff are unable to keep control of the institutions.   In Honduras, there are 46.3 prisoners per member of staff. Another problem is that of the cost per inmate: in Brasil, the annual cost of maintenance per prisoner is US$4,400.

The solution is not to build more prisons, nor to apply harsher sentences.   During his presidential campaign, Chilean right-wing candidate Joaquín Lavín, who worked for the dictatorial regime of the genocidal ex General Augusto Pinochet, proposed the construction of an Alcatraz-style island prison. It escaped Lavín that it is not a case of a lack of vacancies in prisons, but that they are populated by people who have committed minor crimes. Furthermore, the large majority have not even been sentenced.

For example, in Buenos Aires, 89% of detainees are waiting to be sentenced. In 2004, in Unit #1 of Olmos, just 3.9% had received sentence.   In Lima, 7,905 inmates have been held for illegal drug trafficking, and only 2,306 prisoners have been sentenced; whilst the remainder awaits trial before a judicial power that moves at a snail's pace.   Justice is not only blind (though it does seem to be able to see out of one eye), but also lame.

We should not be putting everyone in prison and scapegoating minor criminals. Prisons are like the universities of the underworld: They come in for a minor transgression and graduate skilled criminals.   If we want to deal with this issue we must accept proposals, like that of the Inter-American Development Bank, which is based upon social and structural reform. We must prevent criminality. How? By stopping young people from choosing the wrong path.   By combating poverty and hotbeds of violence since their earlier years, so that they could have both economic and employment alternatives.

Translated by Alice Kilgarriff