69
Suriname
Trinidad y
Tobago
Uruguay
Venezuela
there is room for INPE to assume the integral security of the penitentiary
centers, the Penitentiary Security Directorate contributed to the creation of a
Transfer Plan, but the date has not yet been set.”
Only the Prison Officials are in charge of the security in the prisons.
The Prison Service is the body in charge of maintaining the security in the
prisons, however, in some cases of major problems with order, such as
revolts, a joint force, which includes the army, may enter.
In Uruguay, the 8 penitentiaries located within the metropolitan area, plus the
San Jose regional prison, depend on the National Directorate of Prisons and
Rehabilitation Centers. The remaining 20 jails of the country depend on the
local Police.
By Decree 378/1997 the Ministry of National Defense was put in charge of the
external security of the Santiago Vazquez Prison Complex, the Libertad
Penitentiary Center, and the Regional Prison of Canelones. By subsequent
decrees, military presence has been allowed in the perimeter of these
complexes and by a recent agreement of the Ministry of National Defense this
plan has been extended to the Regional Prison of Maldonado
According to the information given by the State normally in the prison centers
of Venezuela, the external security is in the charge of a detachment of the
National Guard (the army) and the internal security, by civil servants.
195.
In this regard, the IACHR has addressed the situation in countries like
Bolivia 228 , Paraguay 229 , Honduras 230 , Haiti 231 and Uruguay 232 that do no have specialized
correctional agencies, these functions are exercised by the police forces. Likewise, in the
case of Montero‐Aranguren et al (Detention Center of Catia) v. Venezuela, the Inter‐
American Court ordered the Venezuelan State, as a measure of satisfaction and guarantee
that the violations established would not be repeated, to implement an eminently civilian
penitentiary surveillance service. 233
196.
Indeed, it is essential that the States establish autonomous penitentiary
administration systems, managed by professional penitentiary personnel and
administrators independent of the police. However, the mere existence of those
institutions does not suffice. Existing penitentiary personnel must be sufficient to cover the
228
IACHR, Follow‐up Report ‐ Access to Justice and Social Inclusion: The Road Towards Strengthening
Democracy in Bolivia, OEA/Ser/L/V/II.135. Doc. 40, adopted on August 7, 2009, Ch. V, paras. 116 and 119.
229
United Nations, Special Rapporteur on Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment, Report on the mission to Paraguay, A/HRC/7/3/Add.3, adopted on October 1, 2007. Ch. IV:
Conditions of detention, para. 70
230
United Nations, Working Group on Arbitrary Detentions, Report on mission to Honduras,
A/HRC/4/40/Add.4, adopted on December 1, 2006, paras. 76 and 101.
231
IACHR, Haiti: Failed Justice or the Rule of Law? Challenges ahead for Haiti and the international
community, Ch. III, para. 206.
232
IACHR, Press Release 76/11 ‐ IACHR Recommends Adoption of a Comprehensive Public Policy on
Prisons in Uruguay. Washington, D.C., July 25, 2011, Annex, para. 51.
233
I/A Court H. R., Case of Montero Aranguren et al. (Detention Center of Catia) V. Venezuela.
Judgment of July 5, 2006. Series C No. 150, para. 144.
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