Prison policy in Colombia should be focused on prevention of the entry of people to the criminal and not only in detain those who have committed crimes. The situation in the prisons is a true “time bomb” that can explode at any part of the country.
“It is very important to build prisons, but it is not the only solution. Not releasing people from prisons and implement overcrowding measures. This is a solution, but it is not the only”, emphasized the Deputy Attorney General, Jorge Fernando Perdomo. The important thing is how to prevent people from entering the prisons, told the official referring to the tragedy that occurred in a prison in Barranquilla (Atlántico) which killed ten people asphyxiated and burnt during a riot.
For Perdomo, the construction of prisons will ever be sufficient if it is that in the country the prison population has grown by 50 percent during the past two years. Thus, there will never be decent conditions for imprisoned persons in the country. “It’s humanity, guarantee reasons of the fundamental rights of the criminals. Those offenders also have the right to that fundamental rights are respected them “, explained the Deputy Attorney.
Overcrowding problems are presented in all the cities of the country. For example, in the Bogota model there is capacity for around 2000 people and has more than seven thousand prisoners. That is without counting the population of the weekends when visits are made. Approximately three persons per inner. It would have around 20 thousand people in jail during the weekend, said Perdomo.
In the Prosecutor’s Office, the statement that all officials have is exceptionally use the resource of depriving people of freedom and be strict in that pre-trial detention should only be employed when converge the requirements demanded by the Constitution.