2
Nations that make visits to prisons and centers of detention. 3 The nature of this situation
reveals the existence of series structural shortcomings that gravely affect non‐derogable
human rights, such as the rights to life and humane treatment of prisoners, and in practice
they keep penalties that entail deprivation of liberty from serving the essential purpose
established in the American Convention, namely the reform and social readaptation of the
convicts.
4.
The Inter‐American Commission on Human Rights considers that this
unchanging reality is the result of decades of neglect of the prison problem by the
successive governments of the States in the region, and of the apathy of the societies,
which traditionally prefer not to look at the prisons. Accordingly, centers of detention have
become areas that go unmonitored and unsupervised in which violence, arbitrariness and
corruption have traditionally prevailed.
5.
The fact that persons in the custody of the State are in a situation of
special vulnerability, together with the frequent lack of any public policy on the matter, has
often meant that the conditions in which these persons are kept are characterized by the
systematic violation of their human rights. 4 Therefore, for the prison systems and the
deprivation of liberty as a response to crime to be able to serve their essential purpose, it is
essential that the States take specific steps to address these structural shortcomings.
6.
In this matter, the member States of the OAS, in the context of the
General Assembly, have observed with concern “the critical situation of violence and
overcrowding in places of deprivation of freedom in the Americas,” highlighting “the need
to take concrete measures to prevent this situation in order to ensure the exercise of the
human rights of persons deprived of freedom.” 5 In consideration of this situation, the
General Assembly has asked the IACHR “to continue reporting on the situation of persons
under any form of detention or imprisonment in the Hemisphere and, using as a basis its
work on the subject, to continue making reference to the problems and best practices it
observes.” 6
3
The IACHR also takes into consideration that the United Nations Latin American Institute for the
Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders (ILANUD), in its recent publication Crime, Criminal Justice and
Prison in Latin America and the Caribbean states that the five main problems or needs of prison systems in Latin
America are: (a) the lack of comprehensive policies (criminological, human rights, prison, rehabilitation, gender,
criminal justice); (b) prison overcrowding, stemming from low budgets and the lack of adequate infrastructure; (c)
the deficient quality of life in the prisons; (d) the insufficiency of prison personnel and their lack of adequate
training; and (e) the lack of training and work programs for prisoners. United Nations Latin American Institute for
the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders (ILANUD), Crime, Criminal Justice and Prison in Latin
America and the Caribbean, 2009, pp. 28‐31.
4
IACHR, Second Report on the Situation of Human Rights in Peru, OEA/Ser.L/V/II.106. Doc. 59 rev.,
adopted on June 2, 2000. (hereinafter “Second Report on the Situation of Human Rights in Peru”), Ch. IX, para. 1.
5
OAS, General Assembly Resolution, AG/RES. 2668 (XLI‐O/11), adopted on June 7, 2011; ,OAS, General
Assembly Resolution, AG/RES. 2592 (XL‐O/10), adopted on June 8, 2010; OAS, General Assembly Resolution,
AG/RES. 2510 (XXXIX‐O/09), adopted on June 4, 2009; OAS, General Assembly Resolution, AG/RES. 2403 (XXXVIII‐
O/08), adopted on June 13, 2008; OAS, General Assembly Resolution, AG/RES. 2283 (XXXVII‐O/07), adopted on
June 5, 2007; and OAS, General Assembly Resolution, AG/RES. 2233 (XXXVI‐O/06), adopted on June 6, 2006.
6
OAS, General Assembly Resolution, AG/RES. 2668 (XLI‐O/11), adopted on June 7, 2011, operative
paragraph 3; OAS, General Assembly Resolution, AG/RES. 2592 (XL‐O/10), adopted on June 8, 2010, operative
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