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Eleven people lie in a small corner of a Venezuelan women’s prison The most recent report by the NGO A Window to Freedom, which warns of serious problems caused by overcrowding, is 189.31% of the prison population.
in photography, He is seen sleeping on the floor, his belongings hanging on the wall and crowded, two fans without supports and the people working on them having dull faces. At a distance of one centimeter from each other.
It is this image of overcrowding that justifies the expansion of infectious and deadly diseases such as tuberculosis, The infectious disease that persists among the Venezuelan prison population, It gains strength and spreads easily because the cells do not have adequate ventilation, drinking water is scarce, and prisoners are deprived of sunlight.
But there is one more thing that catches everyone’s attention NGO study, And this is an increase in cases of suicide, which is the last option of people detained in a hellish prison system without procedural guarantees of defence.
According to the monitoring, during the year 2023, at least 17 detainees died due to health-related reasons in police cells. The cases of suicide in these places are becoming increasingly worrying. The year ended with congestion of 189.31%
The organization assures that during the year 2023, men and women who are deprived of liberty, that is, in the custody of the Venezuelan State, will continue to die from respiratory complications, tuberculosis, malnutrition, cancer and heart attacks, among other diseases.
Through annual reports, the NGO indicated that at least 17 people held in preventive detention centers or police posts died due to health reasons: 8 during the first semester of 2023 and 9 during the second semester. Another detainee died during this period. Had run away and was recaptured.
The organization draws attention to self-inflicted violence and highlights that in 2023, 5 cases of suicide were recorded in some police cells.
“The number of suicides is so worrying that we can compare it with cases of tuberculosis,” the report said.
Investigation also revealed that a prisoner lodged in the police cell died of stomach injury.
uniform uncertainty prisons
With regard to jails, prisons or judicial prisoners, the uncertain situation is similar.
The UVL managed to record the deaths of 19 men at the following sites: pulmonary/respiratory complications (7), digestive bleeding (1), meningitis (1), malaria (1), tuberculosis (8) and brain tumor (1). To this amount we must add the deaths of three women: tuberculosis (1), cancer (1) and malnutrition (1).
The document indicates, “Most of these diseases can be controlled or eliminated, but overcrowding, lack of ventilation in cells and the absence of hospitals exacerbate and increase the presence of these diseases.”
Tuberculosis, an infectious disease that persists among the Venezuelan prison population, gains strength and spreads easily due to overcrowding, because there is not adequate ventilation in the cells, because there is a lack of drinking water in these places, because prisoners Are not exposed to sunlight frequency and because the sick co-exist with healthy people.
This annual report of A Window to Freedom is called: “Situation of human rights of persons deprived of liberty in preventive detention centers in Venezuela 2023.”
The team that carried it out is composed of Carlos Nieto Palma (General Director), Magali Huggins (Research Coordinator), Carol Carrero (Operational Coordinator) and 26 researchers, all journalists, with extensive experience in impunity sources and human rights.
For the past 8 years, A Window to Freedom has specifically examined the conditions of men and women detained in the country’s preventive detention centers, also known as police posts or cells.
This is the 19th report prepared by the Civil Association on this important topic.
dangerous level of overcrowding
The year 2022 ended with a total of 16,837 people detained in police cells: 15,280 men (90.7%) and 1,557 women (9.3%). This year it closed with an overcrowding of 176.2%.
During the year 2023, A Window to Freedom managed to monitor the status of the following police cells across the country: First Semester: 282 and Second Semester: 293.
The organization indicates that by carefully evaluating the situation in these places, it determined that at the end of 2023, overcrowding in preventive detention centers reached 189.31%.
It said the prison population at these locations converted into new 21st century prisons is as follows: First Semester 2023. Male population: 20,886 prisoners for an installed capacity of 10,842 places. Overcrowding of 192.64%. Second Semester 2023. Male Population: 17,481 inmates for an installed capacity of 9,234 places. Overcrowding of 189.31%.
Year 2023. Female population, first semester: 1,773 inmates, second semester: 2,028, for an installed capacity of 213 places. Overcrowding of 832.39%.
As an example: the installed capacity in the Capital District (Caracas) is 1,053 places and the year 2023 is closed with 3,036 detainees (A), which translates to an overcrowding of 288.59% and the installed capacity in the state of Zulia is 930 places and the year is 2023. closed with 2,473 detainees, reaching overcrowding of 265.91%.
Presidential Commission has not achieved the objective
UVL reminds that the Presidential Commission for Judicial Revolution was created on June 21, 2021, which was to solve the serious problem of overcrowding in the country’s police cells in 60 days. After three years, the organization believes that the mandate has not met the objective set by it.
It is clear that in 2021, 6,390 prisoners (2.35%) were released and 2,066 (2.43%) were transferred. “The numerical data appear large, but the percentages say otherwise,” the report said.
The organization believes that the year 2022 was the most successful in this sense: 7,930 (9.15%) were released and 2,871 (4.78%) were transferred, and the rates dropped significantly in 2023: 453 detainees were released ( 2.59%) and 479 transferred (2.74%).
“The government achieved what it was looking for, namely publicity and national and international public image, but it did not solve the problem of overcrowding at police posts,” the document said.
He says that the so-called Kayapa scheme also did not live up to the declared expectations.
TB and HIV, persistent diseases:
Once again, A Window to Freedom highlights in its annual report that tuberculosis is the most serious health problem facing prisoners in Venezuela.
When detailing the diseases suffered by prisoners in Venezuela, the organization stated the following:
1st Semester 2023: TB: Male 318 cases, Female 14 cases, Scabies: Male 660 cases, Female 43 cases, Influenza: Male 1019 cases, Female 33 cases, Covid 19: Male 17 cases, Female 2 cases, HIV- AIDS: 44 cases among men, 1 case among women, a total of 2,151 sick people.
2nd quarter 2023: TB: Men 338 cases, Women 15 cases, Scabies: Men 572 cases, Women 21 cases, Influenza: Men 803, Women 50 cases, Covid 19: Men 5 cases, Women 0 cases, HIV-AIDS : Men 50 cases, women 2 cases, a total of 1,856 sick people.
Research indicates that other health disorders such as breast cancer, cerebrovascular accidents, schizophrenia, hypertension, cerebral palsy, brain tumors, respiratory/pulmonary complications, bacterial infections and mastitis also occur at police checkpoints.
The lack of bathrooms, the existence of makeshift toilets, and the accumulation of feces and waste inside cells caused detainees to fall ill frequently. Obviously, apart from flies, mosquitoes and cockroaches, all kinds of crawling animals also live in these places.
“Urban cleanups can take up to a week, given the ease with which organic waste decomposes,” the report said.
women detained
UVL reported that 2,028 women were held in preventive detention centers at the end of 2023. He says there are only 12 police cells across the country that are exclusively for women, 74 are exclusively for men and the rest, that is, 207 outposts are mixed.
“Only three preventive detention centers across the country are provided with toilet paper and sanitary towels to detained women,” the investigation revealed.
The organization draws attention to the fact that women do not have the right to conjugal visits, however, some of them are pregnant. “Either they are pregnant or were pregnant while they were in the police cell,” the researchers indicated.
UVL states that in general, detained women are housed in indeterminate offices converted into cells; When they enter or become pregnant, they are not given adequate medical attention and are shifted to a care center only when they give birth to the child.
“There are more spaces in police cells for the LGBTIQ+ population than for women.” The report indicates.
The families of the prisoners (victims based on kinship) are responsible for the survival of all prisoners.
Mothers, wives, sisters and mistresses are those who provide ready-made food, meals to prepare, clothing, shoes, drinking water, personal hygiene products, cleaning products for cells and even transportation in private cars Pay when the prisoner has to go. A health centre.
decline of democracy
A Window to Freedom believes that the country continues to be in a state of grave impunity because all regulations, including their implementation, require the existence of a democratic government.
