The dramatic reality of prisons in Peru had been known for several years. After a long ordeal, the Executive power declared an emergency in the National Penitentiary System and the National Penitentiary Institute (Inpe) for two years (24 months), due to overcrowding within penitentiary establishments. The measure seeks to optimize the provision of resocialization services.
The reasons are explained in Supreme Decree No. 014-2024-JUS: “(…) critical overcrowding of penitentiary establishments (136% overcrowding) and severe deficiencies in their shelter capacity, quality of infrastructure and sanitary facilities, health, security, among other basic services at the national level”reads the document.
Furthermore, the progress of the 2030 Penitentiary Policy has not been as expected. “If we could free these penitentiaries of those people who have committed very minor crimes, I think we could greatly alleviate the overcrowding that we have been facing.”Juan Alcántara, vice minister of Justice, told Canal N.
Regarding the project that sought to expand the Challapalca prison, he maintained that they have given up due to the refusal of the Tacna authorities and are looking at other alternatives.
The rule was published on Tuesday in the Official Gazette El Peruano and provides that the Ministry of Justice develop a Penitentiary Emergency Sector Strategy in 45 days, with the objective of guaranteeing the implementation of the National Penitentiary Policy by 2030.
This measure comes after the State Council, held on November 5, agreed to “provide resources for penitentiary infrastructure, achieving the expansion of existing prisons and the construction of new penitentiary establishments.”
“In that sense, it is necessary to declare the National Penitentiary System (SPN) and the National Penitentiary Institute in emergency, and provide for the development of the Penitentiary Emergency Sector Strategy,” indicates the standard.
Likewise, the norm specifies that the SPN, as of August of this year, housed 98,127 inmates in the 69 penitentiary establishments, despite the fact that the original capacity is only 41,556, representing an overpopulation of 136%.
Furthermore, it indicates that a report from the Criminological Policy Directorate of the Minjus indicates that the prison population of defendants did not reach 28%.
“The critical situation is further aggravated due to the insufficient capacity of the existing penitentiary establishments. By 2023, only 50.2% of the population deprived of liberty was in establishments with adequate conditions of infrastructure and services,” the norm states.
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