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To: hennie pennie

This is a US State Department description of Peruvian prisons:

Prison conditions were harsh for the 44,800 inmates, of whom 2,794 were women. The National Penitentiary Institute (INPE) operated 56 of the country’s 71 active prisons, and the National Police of Peru (PNP) has jurisdiction over the rest. Prisoners with money had access to cell phones, illegal drugs, and meals prepared outside the prison.

Conditions were poor to extremely harsh in facilities for prisoners who lacked funds. Overcrowding, poor sanitation, and inadequate nutrition and health care were serious problems. Inmates had intermittent access to running water, bathing facilities were inadequate, kitchen facilities were unhygienic, and prisoners slept in hallways and common areas for lack of cell space. Tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS reportedly remained at near-epidemic levels. The San Juan de Lurigancho men’s prison held 9,874 prisoners in a facility designed for 3,204.

.....Conditions were especially harsh in maximum-security facilities located at high altitudes. The high-security prison in the jungle area of Iquitos was in poor condition and was under renovation. During the year the PNP transferred responsibility for operating the facility to INPE.

Prison guards and fellow inmates reportedly abused prisoners. There were deaths of inmates in prisons, most attributed to fellow inmates, but some were due to negligence by guards. Guards received little or no training or supervision. Corruption was a serious problem, and some guards cooperated with criminal bosses who oversaw the smuggling of guns and drugs into prisons.

By December authorities had sentenced only 17,297 of the 44,800 persons held in the country’s detention facilities. Authorities held detainees temporarily in pretrial detention centers located at police stations, judiciary buildings, and the Ministry of Justice. In most cases authorities held pretrial detainees with convicted prisoners.

The government permitted prison visits by independent human rights observers. The International Committee of the Red Cross made 44 unannounced visits in accordance with its standard modalities to inmates in 27 prisons and detention centers.


43 posted on 06/05/2010 8:02:18 PM PDT by xxqqzz
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Does Van Der Sloot have a case of K-Y on order? Gee, I hope so.


46 posted on 06/05/2010 8:04:17 PM PDT by donaldo
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To: xxqqzz
There are so many horrendous reports about the Peruvian prison conditions; yet, ontheotherhand, online posters at many boards depict Peru as a non-3rd World nation, fully modern & Western.

The dichotomy is difficut to reconcile. Since Peru is where the Shining Path Guerillas were active, do you think that perhaps their terrorist activities might be responsible for some of the terrible conditions in the prisons?

50 posted on 06/05/2010 8:08:43 PM PDT by hennie pennie
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