From: rich@pencil.cs.missouri.edu (Rich Winkel)
Subject: VENEZUELA: JUSTICE MINISTER ADMITS TO TORTURE IN PRISONS
Followup-To: alt.activism.d
Originator: rich@pencil.cs.missouri.edu
Organization: PACH
Date: Thu, 30 Jul 1992 00:51:08 GMT

/** reg.samerica: 143.0 **/
** Topic: IPS: Venezuela - Justice Minister **
** Written  8:23 am  Jul 25, 1992 by hrcoord in cdp:reg.samerica **
From: Human Rights Coordinator <hrcoord>
Subject: IPS: Venezuela - Justice Minister

/* Written 12:21 am  Jul 25, 1992 by newsdesk in cdp:ips.englibrary */
Copyright Inter Press Service 1992, all rights reserved.  Permission to re-
print within 7 days of original date only with permission from 'newsdesk'.

Title: VENEZUELA: JUSTICE MINISTER ADMITS TO TORTURE IN PRISONS

caracas, jul 22 (ips) -- prisoners are constantly mistreated and
tortured in venezuelan prisons, justice minister jose mendoza
admitted wednesday. mendoza has ordered prosecutors to
investigate the matter.

the minister's announcement followed reports that ten
prisoners in a caracas penitentiary were physically tortured on
tuesday by members of the national guard that control the prison.

human rights groups have said that similar acts occur
constantly in almost all the country's prisons.

however, caracas governor alfredo ledezma has tried to dismiss
the criticisms of prison conditions, saying ''we cannot send
these criminals to suites in the hilton hotel, but to the state
penitentiaries that are available.''

mendoza said that the government has undertaken a plan to
improve prison conditions in the country.

the first step, he said, has been the firing of inefficient
and corrupt officials. in the past three months, directors of six
prisons have been removed from their posts.

baptized in the local press as ''branch offices of hell,''
venezuelan prisons are the site of constant and multiple crimes
that, according to experts, could surpass the number of crimes
occurring in the country's streets.

according to amnesty international's latest annual report,
venezuela's greatest human rights violations occur in the
country's prisons, where death and drugs circulate with alarming
frequency.

the venezuelan association ''for life,'' has pointed out that
the crimes are not committed only by the prisoners themselves,
but often by members of the national guard.

at the end of 1991, authorities uncovered a drug trafficking
network organised by prison guards.

venezuela's 31 prisons have an official capacity of 15,000,
but currently house over 31,000 prisoners. of these, only 30
percent have been sentenced. the rest are awaiting sentencing,
which in many cases turns out to be less than the time they have
already spent in prison.

overcrowding and poor health conditions have given rise to
outbreaks of severe and contagious diseases, including cholera,
malaria and yellow fever, according to hand-written notes the
prisoners themselves have shoved through the windows of caracas'
prisons. (more/ips)
----


venezuela: justice (2)

fights among inmates are also daily occurrences, and only come
to the public light when there are deaths. on monday, three
prisoners died at the catia prison from wounds inflicted by
home-made knives and picks.

on the same day, ten were wounded in a riot at the merida
prison, in western venezuela, while three dangerous inmates
escaped from a caracas jail.

however, the worst fate for a venezuelan prisoner is to be
sent to the state penitentiary and re-education centre in el
dorado, where pain, hunger and isolation are the norm.

located on the edge of venezuela's amazon jungle, some 900
kilometers south-east of caracas, el dorado receives a shipment
of over 200 male prisoners, mostly vagrants and homeless, four
times a year.

a venezuelan law allows police to arrest people purely on
suspicion or based on appearances.  ''they don't punish you for
crimes here, they punish you for being poor,'' one of the
prisoners told the ''caracas daily.''

while numerous irregularities at el dorado have been denounced
by the justice department, no serious reforms have been
undertaken.

the justice ministry has asked congress for an additional
credit to complete additions at two prisons, but the crisis
appears to be worsening as a massive crime-wave sweeps the
country.

in the first six months of this year there were 1,604 violent
deaths in caracas alone.

in order to control the situation, the interior ministry
launched an anti-crime operation which, according to official
sources, led to the arrest of over 700 suspected criminals last
weekend. (end/ips/trd/so/caf-sfi/eli/kb/92)
----


** End of text from cdp:reg.samerica **

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