| Work Detail |
Reform. With a mega prison in Ezeiza and another prison in the interior, they plan the construction of the first privately managed prisons
The Ministries of Security and Economy are preparing a tender to generate more prison places
Prison overpopulation is a serious problem in Argentina, not only because of the housing conditions of people deprived of liberty, but, fundamentally, because of its implication in everyday crime: the fewer places in the penitentiary units, the more releases to maintain compensated the system. Thus the so-called “revolving door” opens and its effects reach the streets due to the repetition of acts committed by those who, despite being accused in several files, were still free. To begin to respond to the “penitentiary emergency”, the Ministry of Security and Economy are preparing the bidding documents for the construction of two large prisons. And a decision was made: they will be privately managed prisons.
This concept is used in several countries, with the United States being a pioneer in this matter. In our region, the mixed system has experiences in Chile, Brazil and Uruguay, with different particularities from the North American model, where the absolute transfer of control to private hands is postulated. Here, officials who participated in the meetings in which the premises of this initiative were defined assured LA NACION that work was observed in other countries, but that the creation of an Argentine model of private prison management is proposed: the rule will be that Direct surveillance of prisoners and perimeter surveillance will not be in the hands of contractors, but will continue to be carried out by the Federal Penitentiary Service (SPF).
Everything else will be part of the package that the tender will refer to the company that obtains the contract, the duration of which has not yet been determined, but which will last several years. The private sector will be responsible for the construction of the facilities, the repair that they require during the term of the contract, the accommodation of inmates, the medical care, food, hygiene and cleaning services, in addition to waste treatment and the administration of those prisons.
The resocialization process would also remain under private supervision, with the expectation that the payment of a fee that the State would make for each prisoner housed in these prisons would depend on the repetition rate of the inmates once they regain freedom.
However, the reports on the behavior of prisoners that the courts receive – notes that influence the granting of benefits – will continue under the signature of the Federal Penitentiary Service.
The Government plans to build the largest prison in Argentina on the grounds of the Ezeiza Penitentiary Complex
This month a meeting was held to define the preparation of the tender specifications in which representatives of the Undersecretariat of Penitentiary Affairs of the Ministry of National Security, officials of the SPF, the Federal Penitentiary Architecture Program and the Secretariat of Penitentiary Affairs participated. Concessions from the Ministry of Economy. Although the economic volume that the new contracts would represent was not revealed, at that meeting it was defined that the plan for privately managed prisons will cover the construction of two units in this first stage.
One will have 1,800 beds and will be built on federal land in the interior of the country, while the other will be located on the Ezeiza prison property and its projected 3,200 beds will make it the largest prison in Argentina.
Until now, that position corresponds to the almost 2,000 places in Complex I of Ezeiza, which was inaugurated in 1999 by the then undersecretary of penitentiary policies, Patricia Bullrich, today Minister of Security, who managed to transfer the Federal Penitentiary Service.
Minister Bullrich returned the day before yesterday to that property located in Ezeiza, where she led the inauguration and swearing-in ceremony of the director and deputy director of the SPF, Fernando Martínez and Diego Morel, respectively. Those who know the national official affirm that she considers the contribution of the SPF to be vital in the public security scheme and that in practice she considers the penitentiaries as the fifth federal force, along with the Gendarmerie, the Prefecture, the Airport Security Police and the Argentine Federal Police.
Ministry of Security
“We are going to win the battle we came to fight, so that the system stops being a revolving door where criminals enter and leave, and that they can reintegrate into society. We do not want the prison to be the university of crime, but rather the passage through prisons is to achieve good people,” said the minister, who was accompanied by the Undersecretary of Penitentiary Affairs, Julián Curi, as reported in a statement. .
Curi is the official who follows day by day with special attention the events around the 70 prisoners who were classified as high profile and who, consequently, were introduced into a special surveillance program, which limits their extramural communications to the maximum. They assure that they do not spend 48 hours without searches in those cells, which include detainees in Ezeiza and Marcos Paz classified as a risk due to their possibilities of attempting an escape, their economic capacity to potentially corrupt prison guards or because of the control they maintain of the gangs. that operate on the streets. The ineffable Guille Cantero, leader of the Los Monos narcocriminal gang, is one of the seven inmates of Marcos Paz who is under that regime of strict control.
These 70 prisoners attract public attention, mainly those who are linked to the generation of urban violence in Rosario, but they represent a tiny fraction of the more than eleven thousand housed in SPF facilities. And there are another four thousand defendants who are on a waiting list to enter one of the overcrowded prison complexes. These figures support the official position to advance the private prison management system.
On the verge of collapse
On the 1st of the current one, Minister Bullrich signed the two-year extension of the “penitentiary emergency”, which has been extended since the initial declaration in 2019. The crisis of the system is also evident in the debate between national and Buenos Aires authorities for space in federal prisons. The lack of space keeps the cells of the citys wardens and police stations crowded, where 12 escapes were recorded this year.
In the middle of this month, 1,940 people deprived of their liberty were in the custody of the City Police. In the wardens, 1,246 were housed, in places that only have 798 beds enabled, while in the citys police stations, 459 inmates were notified as of April 16, according to a report from the National Penitentiary Prosecutors Office, almost doubling in maximum capacity, set at 243 places. Another 235 detainees were waiting in custody for a place at least in wardens or police stations. In theory, all of these defendants should be housed in federal prisons, as part of the long process of transferring judicial responsibilities to the city. But there is no place for everyone. And they are not the only ones waiting for a vacancy.
In the declaration of penitentiary emergency it was stated that in addition to those detained in Buenos Aires facilities, people housed in federal forces cells and provincial prisons are awaiting transfer, with a total established this month of 4,265 people.
The latest official data indicates that the SPF has 11,453 prisoners in custody and has 11,361 places. They affirm that 60 percent arrived for causes originating in the city. In the next few days, the Coronda federal prison will be inaugurated, with about 500 places, but the transfer of Buenos Aires prisoners inside depends on each judge. The national authorities hope that the Buenos Aires administration will advance in the construction of a prison in Marcos Paz, whose 2,200 places would give respite to the police stations and the Villa Devoto prison, always on the brink of collapse. |
