37
(c)
In the matter of the Penitentiary Center of the Central Occidental Region
(Uribana Prison), the Court was informed that from January 2006 to January 2007 there
had been a total of 80 violent deaths and 213 persons wounded, most by knives or
firearms. Internal security at the prison was entrusted to eight staff for a population of
1,448 prisoners. 120
(d)
In the matter of the Capital El Rodeo I & El Rodeo II Judicial Confinement
Center, the Court was told that from 2006 to February 1, 2008, there were 139 deaths and
299 persons wounded in various violent incidents. In addition, it was said that only 20
guards on each shift to watch over 2,143 prisoners. 121
(e)
In the matter of Centro Penitenciario de Aragua “Cárcel de Tocorón,” the
Court was informed that from 2008 to the first quarter of 2010 there were 84 deaths as the
result of acts of violence among inmates. In addition, from September 27 to 29, 2010, there
was a riot that left 16 inmates dead and 36 to 46 wounded. Firearms were shot and eight
grenades were detonated in this riot. The State mobilized 1,800 members of the National
Guard to control the prison situation. Subsequently, on October 10, another inmate died
from a stab wound. 122
106.
In all these matters, the general context and the causes that gave rise to
the acts of violence are fundamentally the same: a general situation of inhumane
conditions of detention characterized mainly by considerable overcrowding; lack of basic
services; failure to separate inmates by categories; lack of effective control over the
internal security situation of these prisons – the prison guards only enter the prisons with
the National Guard, which is specifically entrusted with perimeter security; reports of
mistreatment and excessive use of force by the National Guard forces; de facto control of
these establishments by the heads of criminal bands, called “pranes”; and the possession
of all kinds of weapons by the inmates, including high‐caliber firearms and explosives.
107.
The fundamental factor behind the escalation in violence in these prisons
is the inability of the State to recover internal control, and the failure to adopt effective
measures to correct the shortcomings that make it possible for the prison population to
rearm, especially the lack of effective controls by the respective officials.
108.
In these matters, the Inter‐American Court required that the State
immediately adopt the necessary measures, fundamentally preventive ones, to efficiently
120
I/A Court H.R., Provisional Measures in the matter of the Penitentiary Center of the Central
Occidental Region (Uribana Prison), Order of the Inter‐American Court of Human Rights, February 2, 2007. Having
seen 2(a), (b) and (c).
121
I/A Court H.R., Provisional Measures in the matter of the Capital El Rodeo I & El Rodeo II Judicial
Confinement Center, Order of the Inter‐American Court of Human Rights, February 8, 2008. Having seen
paragraphs 2(b), (c) and (g), and 9. Indeed, in this case the IACHR reported that the administrative area, the
hallways, and even the roof in the prison area were controlled by the prisoners; and that bands known as “Barrio
Chino” and “La Corte Negra” are the interlocutors who negotiate with the Ministry of Interior.
122
I/A Court H.R., Provisional Measures in the matter of Centro Penitenciario de Aragua “Cárcel de
Tocorón”, Venezuela, Order of the President of the Inter‐American Court of Human Rights, November 1, 2010,
Having seen paragraphs 2(b) and (d).
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