11
searches are conducted, especially the lack of effective controls on the part of the
corresponding officers;
c)
“while the number of inmates in the prisons increases, the number of guards
decreases, which does not contribute to the solution of the situation of risk". In this
sense, the Commission noted with concern the discrepancy in the information
furnished on the number of guards;
d)
“the State has not provided information on the progress made in relation to
food”. Moreover, pursuant to the Commission, it is “necessary for the Court to
request the State to present a detailed report on the capacity of each one of the cells
of the units that are currently equipped to be used and a list of the inmates with
indication of their current physical location, not just by unit, but by cell, in order to
establish the level of overcrowding in [each] facility and from that, determine the
immediate actions that may have a positive impact on its reduction”. Even though
the Commission valued the efforts made by the State in the construction of the new
confinement centers, it emphasized that the state "does not mention the
approximate term of completion of the [infrastructure works] and that it does not
present information on the improvement of the situation of the detainees while these
works are being performed”. Moreover, it highlighted “that the State has not taken
responsibility in none of its reports for the allegations of the representatives as to the
non-existence of bathrooms […] or the allegations on the restrictions of the use [of]
light and water, and the lack of supplies in the nurse's station of th[e] prison[s]".
According to the Commission, “[o]vercrowding in such high figures and the lack of
basic infrastructure as bathrooms and access to drinking water are directly related to
violence, since inmates must fight for a vital space, which favors the creation of
relations of power and domination and gang-inmates";
e)
Even though “there is evidence of the efforts made by the State in relation to
[medical, sport and cultural sessions] and fumigation activities”, the Commission
pointed out that said measures "must be regular and must include the total number
of inmates in order to achieve the social re-insertation they intend to";
f)
the State has not presented “information on the progress made in the
investigations into the violent facts”;
g)
As to the educational programs, “the percentage of inmates […] that
participate [in said programs] is very reduced and the State has not presented
information as to who [has] access to [such] programs, the programs’ capacity,
methods to promote their existence, among others”;
h)
“[e]ven if it is true that the application of alternative forms [of punishments]
may be relevant, it is minimum the number that these measures were granted and it
does not have a substantial impact on the overpopulation of the [penitentiary
centers]";
i)
the creation of the Superior Prison Council, the 26 national public prosecutor’s
offices with jurisdiction over prison matters, the new prosecutor’s offices at the
national level, with jurisdiction over prison matters, the National Commission on
Pardons and the implementation of the program “Community for Human Rights”
[Haciendo Comunidad para los Derechos Humanos] are positive initiatives of the