Mexican prisons "are places of death and destruction". Inside prisons, fundamental rights are constantly violated, there are privileges for a few, there is violence and, in many cases, control by organized crime, noted specialists in the field.
During the discussion panel "Homocides in Prisons", held Tuesday at the Institute for Legal Research (IIJ) at the National Autonomous University of Mexico [UNAM], Francisco Rivas, general manager of the National Citizen Observatory on Security, Justice and Legality, said that between 2008 and 2014, 445 homicides were recorded during fights and riots in state prisons. Of that total, 40 percent took place in Tamaulipas prisons and 14 percent in Durango.
The expert reported that 2012 was the year with the highest number of murders, 102, from fighting and riots: Tamaulipas and Nuevo León each had 45. Other entities with high incidences of prison homicides are Mexico City, Sinaloa, Chihuahua, Coahuila and Baja California.
In these prisons, he regretted, there is strong collusion between prisoners and guards for the sale of any product (such as chips for mobile phones) by which they can extort money. In addition, they participate in high level prisoner escapes, which reflect the prison system's weakness. Not to mention the occurrence of violent acts and overpopulation.
All this diminishes the quality of life for the prison population, he said.
Privileges and Violence
In these prisons, he regretted, there is strong collusion between prisoners and guards for the sale of any product (such as chips for mobile phones) by which they can extort money. In addition, they participate in high level prisoner escapes, which reflect the prison system's weakness. Not to mention the occurrence of violent acts and overpopulation.
All this diminishes the quality of life for the prison population, he said.
Privileges and Violence
Referring to the specific case of Topo Chico Prison in Nuevo León, where a confrontation last week left 49 inmates dead, Rivas pointed out that recent data show that of the 900 prison guards, 300 did not pass controls of confidence.
Daniel Montero Zendejas is a professor at the UNAM's Faculty of Law, but in 2009 he was Undersecretary of Social Reinsertion in Morelos. Montero Zendejas said that about 65 percent of the country's prisons suffer from self-government at the hands of organized crime, to such a degree that there are privileges, parties and violence. He even reported,
"General Eduardo Gómez, Genaro García Luna—former Secretary of Federal Public Security—and other officials came to prisons where there were parties, weapons, sex workers and liquor, and nothing happened."
María Sirvent, with the Documenta organization and a former member of the Mexican Committee for the Defense and Promotion of Human Rights, asserted that the events in Topo Chico were not an isolated action. Rather, they are part of a structural problem in a prison system that has two realities: they are places either of much repression [for the many] or, to the contrary, of many privileges for a few.
Although figures vary, it is estimated that there are more than 260,000 detainees in 370 state or municipal prisons and 22 federal prisons in Mexico. The country ranks sixth worldwide in terms of prison population, below only the United States, China, Russia, India and Brazil, which are countries with much larger populations.
Nationally, the number of incidents in these detention centers, she pointed out, are on the rise:
Nationally, the number of incidents in these detention centers, she pointed out, are on the rise:
- 2006: 320 were reported;
- 2013: 2,436 were reported, of which 25 were homicides.
Roberto Ochoa, an IIJ researcher, noted that imprisonment has been abused in Mexico, which has meant that many more people are locked up in these spaces than the system can support. Among other things, it produces a "boiling cauldron", such that events like those at Topo Chico take place. Ochoa said:
"It has been believed that the pain of prison inspires fear and deters crime, which is not necessarily true."Miguel Sarré*, ITAM [Autonomous Technology Institute of Mexico], stated that one of the challenges is having a prison system governed by the law,
"because without it, savage interests rule."
Spanish original
*Miguel Sarré earned the law (LL.B.) degree from the Escuela Libre de Derecho (Free School of Law), Mexico City's second oldest law school, and the LL.M. from Notre Dame University in the U.S. A researcher at the Autonomous Technological Institute of Mexico (ITAM), Sarré’s fields of interest are Security, Justice, Human Rights and the Criminal Justice System.
*Miguel Sarré earned the law (LL.B.) degree from the Escuela Libre de Derecho (Free School of Law), Mexico City's second oldest law school, and the LL.M. from Notre Dame University in the U.S. A researcher at the Autonomous Technological Institute of Mexico (ITAM), Sarré’s fields of interest are Security, Justice, Human Rights and the Criminal Justice System.