Situation of prison overcrowding in El Salvador denounced before the IACHR

Washington, D.C., March 19, 2015 .- Civil society organizations presented today before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) the prison crisis faced by El Salvador and the governmental and social indifference underlying this issue.

“Prison is seen as a measure of social control and punishment, and does not address reinsertion and rehabilitation. The overtures made within public policy to tackle these issues unfortunately do not count with social support, the messages broadcast in the media encourage revenge against those who have been incarcerated,” said Abraham Abrego, from FESPAD.

According to data from the General Office of Prison Centers (DGCP), 28.697 people are incarcerated across the country’s 22 penal centers even through the capacity of those centers was designed to support a maximum of 8,490 inmates. This means that overpopulation stands at 338%. According to the Report on Citizen Security in the Americas elaborated by OAS Hemispheric Security Observatory El Salvador ranked first in overcrowded prisons in the continent in 2012.

However individual cases frequently present higher rates of prison overpopulation. Among them, the penitentiary centers of women in Ilopango where the capacity exceeds a 968%, or Pavilion of Psychiatric Ward of the Psychiatric Hospital with 967 %.

“The inadequate and overpopulated infrastructure of penitentiary centers carries serious affectations to the rights of life and personal integrity of inmates. The deficient medical attention, insufficient feeding and the lack of minimal conditions of hygiene are an affront to the dignity of those found in these centers,” said Valentina Ballesta, a lawyer from the Center for Justice and International Law (CEJIL), organization that, in company of the FESPAD, presented the arguments before the IACHR.

According to the information provided by the Counsel for Human Rights Defense, in 2013 3500 people were held in bartolinas – makeshift holding cells within inside the police departments- due to overcrowding.

Although the IACHR has urged El Salvador solve the problem, to this date no record exists of a holistic initiative to deal that deals with prison overpopulation. As a result,  CEJIL and FESPAD requested the IACHR, in tandem with the Special Rapporteur on Persons Deprived of Liberty visit El Salvador’s prisons and issue recommendations on the matter.