38
and once and for all prevent the violence in these prisons. In some cases, such as Yare
Prison 123 , and in the Uribana Prison 124 , the Court ordered that specific measures be
adopted to seize the arms in the hands of the inmates; separate the inmates awaiting trial
from the convicts; separate the men from the women; reduce overcrowding and improve
the conditions of detention; periodically supervise the conditions of detention and the
conditions of the detainees; and provide trained staff in sufficient numbers to ensure the
adequate and effective control, custody, and surveillance of the prison. In addition, the
Court emphasized the duty of the State to design and implement prison policies to prevent
125
critical situations.
109.
The IACHR has closely monitored the prison situation in Venezuela. In this
context, in its special report Democracy and Human Rights in Venezuela, after analyzing
various indicators of prison violence in Venezuela, it concluded: “In comparative terms,
Venezuelan prisons are the most violent in the region.” 126 In effect, even considering the
official data provided by the State, one observes that the figures on acts of violence and
deaths of persons deprived of liberty are alarming. As observed supra in the State’s
response to the questionnaire circulated for this report, the figures on prisoners killed and
wounded in the 2005‐2009 period were as follows: 2005: 721 injured and 381 killed; 2006:
934 injured and 388 killed; 2007: 1,103 injured and 458 killed; 2008: 876 injured and 374
killed; and 2009: 724 injured and 264 killed.
110.
In addition, according to the information provided by the NGO
Observatorio Venezolano de Prisiones, in a hearing held during the 140th period of sessions,
in the first nine months of 2010, 352 prisoners were killed and 736 wounded in Venezuela
in acts of violence. 127
123
I/A Court H.R., Provisional Measures in the matter of Yare I and Yare II Capital Region Penitentiary
Center (Yare Prison), Order of the Inter‐American Court of Human Rights of March 30, 2006, Operative
paragraph 2.
124
I/A Court H.R., Provisional Measures in the matter of Penitentiary Center of the Central Occidental
Region (Uribana Prison), Order of the Inter‐American Court of Human Rights, February 2, 2007, Operative
paragraph 2.
125
I/A Court H.R., Provisional Measures in the matter of the Monagas Judicial Confinement Center (“La
Pica”), Order of the President of the Inter‐American Court of Human Rights, January 13, 2006, Considering
paragraph 15; I/A Court H.R., Provisional Measures in the matter of Yare I and Yare II Capital Region Penitentiary
Center (Yare Prison), Order of the Inter‐American Court of Human Rights, March 30, 2006, Considering
paragraph 18.
126
IACHR, Democracy and Human Rights in Venezuela, para. 881.
127
IACHR, Public hearing: Democratic Institutions and Human Rights Defenders in Venezuela (private
hearing), 140º Ordinary Period of Sessions, requested by the Center for Justice and International Law (CEJIL),
Acción Solidaria (ACSOL), COFAVIC, CEJIL, Acción Solidaria, Carlos Ayala Corao, Caritas Los Teques, Vicaría de
Derechos Humanos de Caracas, PROVEA, and Observatorio Venezolano de Prisiones (OVP), October 29, 2010.
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