Experts Say Most Mexico Prisons Are Places of Death and Destruction Emir Olivares Alonso - La Jornada
go to original February 18, 2016

Over Crowded Mexican Prisons (Time/BorderGuards)

Mexican prisons "are places of death and destruction". Inside prisons, fundamental rights are constantly violated, there are privileges for a few, there is violence and, in many cases, control by organized crime, noted specialists in the field.

During the discussion panel "Homocides in Prisons", held Tuesday at the Institute for Legal Research (IIJ) at the National Autonomous University of Mexico [UNAM], Francisco Rivas, general manager of the National Citizen Observatory on Security, Justice and Legality, said that between 2008 and 2014, 445 homicides were recorded during fights and riots in state prisons. Of that total, 40 percent took place in Tamaulipas prisons and 14 percent in Durango.

The expert reported that 2012 was the year with the highest number of murders, 102, from fighting and riots: Tamaulipas and Nuevo León each had 45. Other entities with high incidences of prison homicides are Mexico City, Sinaloa, Chihuahua, Coahuila and Baja California.

In these prisons, he regretted, there is strong collusion between prisoners and guards for the sale of any product (such as chips for mobile phones) by which they can extort money. In addition, they participate in high level prisoner escapes, which reflect the prison system's weakness. Not to mention the occurrence of violent acts and overpopulation.

All this diminishes the quality of life for the prison population, he said.

Read the rest at Mexico Voices

Mexico Voices is a blogging endeavor aimed at raising the awareness of U.S. citizens regarding the destructive impact of the U.S. economic policy and the War on Drugs on Mexico — on its people, their economic and physical security and their human rights, on the nation’s dysfunctional justice system, and on the rule of law and Mexico’s fragile democracy. Visit the website at MexicoVoices.blogspot.mx

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