Colombia's constitutional court gives government ultimatum to solve prison crisis

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Colombia's constitutional court gives government ultimatum to solve prison crisis

27 April 2015

Colombia’s Constitutional Court gave the the government three years to adopt measures to end an ongoing humanitarian crisis in prisons, many of which are overcrowded.

The ultimatum is targeted at six prisons known to have the worst conditions. These include Tramacua in Valledupar, the Modelo in Bogota, Bellavista in Medellin, San Isidro in Popayan, and the prisons in Cucuta and Barrancabermeja. Within these institutions, prisoners cannot expect provision of even basic services such as adequate healthcare, food and clean water. Limited access to showers result in prisoners either unable to sufficiently clean themselves or cleaning themselves with buckets of dirty water, spawning a multitude of health risks. Additionally, the Constitutional Court highlighted how many prisoners are not afforded a cell, much less a bed, pillow or sheets.

These are problems that result from a prison system that is operating at nearly 150% capacity, with nearly 40,000 more prisoners than the system is able to accommodate.

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