44 crime, as borne out by the fact that recidivism was very high. These detention conditions caused the inmates to turn away from society, as society treated them like “wild animals.” Inside prison, inmates cannot be taught a trade. The conditions were not there to teach the inmates anything, and there was nothing to induce them to learn. There were no classrooms, desks, chairs, notebooks, pencils or pens. The number of teachers was not what it should have been. Normally there was no money for food, much less to buy a computer. Corruption is rampant at the Center. Still, there are good and honest people there as well. The Center has a book in which it records the names of the defense attorneys who visit the inmates. As a rule, few attorneys engage in this kind of work. Some are tremendous, but many are negligent and inefficient. Another problem is that at the present time, an inquiry takes six months; in other words, one is in jail for at least six months, whether one is innocent or guilty. After the fires, some juveniles were transferred to Tacumbú. They were not there long, however, as that was just a temporary arrangement. While they were there, however, these juveniles were not separated from the adult prisoners because space was lacking. Some street children have never had a family. It is heartbreaking to read their file: “Name of father: unknown,” “name of father: unknown.” It’s dreadful. One measure that the Court might take to enable the boys who were inmates at the Center to truly get back into mainstream Paraguayan society is simply to ensure that the laws are obeyed, since not one law is being observed at the present time. “Treatment and follow-up” are also essential. The Child and Adolescent Code needs to be modernized and amplified. f) Testimony of María Zulia Giménez González, journalist and attorney The witness wrote several Articles in the Asunción newspaper Noticias, where she worked as a journalist covering “court-related” matters. And so on February 11, 2000, she went to the Center when the fire happened. She arrived after the events, by which time the inmates had been sent to treatment centers. In the end, she confined herself to the accounts given by people, neighbors, and other inmates, who told her how the events had unfolded. She was aware of conditions at the Center well before the fire, because she visited routinely, as it was part of her assigned area. On days when the judges went to visit the Center, the prison staff cleaned up the “correctional institution, a misnomer,” and painted it with lime. But when the judges left, “hell started all over again.” The inmates said that there was a place in the basement where they were tortured. She saw the basement and how they were treated; she also saw how the children were crowded in the cells. The prison guards were trained to punish and torture, but not to treat the inmates like human beings. The witness never saw extinguishers and does not know whether the Center had any emergency plan.