Martinelli: “Future center for women deprived of liberty will imply a change in the rehabilitation paradigm”
The construction of the new rehabilitation facility for women in Punta de Rieles, as well as the three centers in Libertad, and others in the bidding process, are one more step towards achieving “zero overcrowding” for the first time, stated the Minister of Interior, Nicolás Martinelli, during the signing of the contract for the start of the works. He added that this milestone constitutes a paradigm shift in these centers.
The activity took place at the headquarters of the Ministry of the Interior with the presence, in addition, of the directors of Coexistence and Citizen Security, Matías Terra, and of the National Rehabilitation Institute (INR), Luis Mendoza; parliamentary commissioner Juan Miguel Petit; the president of the Supreme Court of Justice, Elena Martínez Rosso and the director of the Office of Planning and Budget (OPP), Fernando Blanco.
The work, which will be carried out through a public-private participation (PPP) contract signed this week, will create a safe and appropriate environment for the rehabilitation of women deprived of liberty, with a capacity of 846 places and the possibility of expanding up to 1,015. places.
Martinelli detailed relevant aspects of the building and its sectors. It will be the first in Uruguay with the possibility of housing transgender people, it will have new access control and administration, a pre-exit module, a space for sports centers, workshops, infirmary and garden. Likewise, the center will increase the socio-laboral and socio-educational spaces.
The authorities estimated that the penitentiary establishment will operate from 2026 and that the service system will incorporate 6% of the center’s population to carry out various tasks, generating “a second chance” for the prison population.
At the end of his speech, the Secretary of State referred to the figures of the last four years of the ministry’s management, which managed to lower the rate of homicides, suicides and escapes, as well as avoid riots despite having more people deprived of liberty than when the period starts.
