Women’s prisons: abuse runs rampant

Mexico News Daily: More than 12,000 women in Mexico live in conditions that are substandard and dangerous, where widespread sexual abuse, inadequate services and outright neglect are a part of everyday life.

Thee women are those housed in 77 of the country’s 102 prisons, and were the subjects of a study released this week by the National Human Rights Commission (CNDH). Read more. 

Report shows most Mexican prisons controlled by inmates

Reuters: By Lizbeth Diaz. MEXICO CITY - Six out of 10 Mexican prisons are "self-governed" by prison gangs or drug cartels, according to a report issued Monday by the country's human rights commission.

Commission representative Andres Aguirre said at a news conference that Mexico's prisons also are plagued by overcrowding, a shortage of guards and corrupt employees who sometimes help with breakouts.

Aguirre said 60 percent of the country's 430 prisons or jails are controlled by criminal elements.

He added that the escape of 521 inmates over 14 incidents since 2010 - often with the help of corrupt prison officials - constitutes a grave problem for the country.

Earlier this month, more than 130 inmates escaped from a prison near the U.S. border in Piedras Negras, Coahuila, one of numerous mass breakouts tied to organized crime in the past few years. Read more.

Guards Foil Attempted Prison Escape in Mexico

Hispanically Speaking News: "Police and guards foiled an attempt by inmates to escape from a prison in Culiacan, the capital of the northwestern Mexican state of Sinaloa, over the weekend, state officials said, adding that a police officer was wounded in the incident.

The inmates were spotted by guards early Sunday as they tried to make their way to the perimeter wall, the Sinaloa Public Safety Secretariat said.

Guards fired warning shots in the air and forced the inmates to return to the cell block that they had escaped from by cutting through a metal screen." read more

Mexico Prisons: Drugs, Alcohol, and Knives found in Tabasco Prison

El Excelsior: "The Federal Police performed an unannounced search through the facilities of a Tabasco (Creset) Prison which uncovered cell phones, alcohol, drugs, and even sharp weapons.

The surprise search at the State Center for Social Rehabilitation took place yesterday afternoon, where federal agents also subdued an attempted mutiny.

The operation passed largely without incident, although a mutiny attempted by a group of prisoners was reported. Police sources claimed, however, that the uprising was controlled without problems or injuries.

Since sunrise, the perimeter of the penitentiary’s grounds have been cordoned off by more than 150 officers of various police agencies. Access to the prison by visitors and attorneys has also been restricted.

After finishing the search, the authorities reported that they had seized 400 grams of marijuana, 200 grams of cocaine, three cell phones, eight sharpened weapons, several liters of tepache (ed. note: a traditional Mexican alcoholic drink), as well as clothes and shoes from the inmates." Spanish original 

Translation: Mikael Rojas, Americas Program 

Rule of Law: Second escapee is recaptured and presented to media in Apodaca jailbreak scandal

La Jornada: "Jonathan Israel Flores, one of the 37 prisoners who escaped during the Apodaca prison break on Feb. 19, was presented before the media today after he was recaptured two days ago in the popular market Pulga Rio in the center of Monterrey. There were non shots fired in the arrest of the 23 year-old.

The State Secretary of Public Security (SPE), General Javier del Real Magallanes, and the spokesperson for security, Jorge Domene Zambrano, attributed the arrest to an investigation carried out by the Civil Police Force—a new police branch in the SPE.

During the presentation of the ex-prisoner in the State Investigation Agency, Real Magallanes said that the authorities have information that they’re confident could lead them to the capture of other escapees from the Feb. 19 incident in which 44 prisoners were massacred.

At the time of his arrest, Flores Guerrero was carrying bags of drugs; it is supposed that he was a distributor in the area." Spanish original

Mexico Prisons: Updates on Apodaca prison riot and break one month later

Justice in Mexico: "Nearly a month after the February 19 massive prison riot and break in the Apodaca medium security prison, which is just outside of Monterrey, Nuevo León, authorities reported a correction to the number of inmates who escaped during the violent uprising, increasing the number originally reported from 30 to 37.

... Only one of the 37 fugitives has since been recaptured by authorities since the February incident –Agustín Manuel Olvera Pérez– who gave a rather damning testimony to officials in the State Agency of Investiation (Agencia Estatal de Investigaciones, AEI) about the corrupt role of prison guards and staff, not only in the break itself, but in their everyday interactions with the inmates. According to Diario de Yucatán, the recaptured inmate pointed specifically to guards allowing Zetas-affiliated inmates to have prostitutes, throw parties, sell other prisoners alcohol and drugs, and occasionally leave the prison facilities without supervision, allegedly “to kill [their] enemies.”" read more

Mexico Prisons: 37 prisoners, not 29, escaped from the Apodaca prison in Monterrey

CNN Mexico: "The attorney general of Nuevo Leon corrected figures regarding the number of prisoners who escaped from the Apodaca prison in February. The total was 37, Jorge Domene, spokesman for the State Security Council, said on Friday. One has been captured. ... Almost a month after the last count presented by the prosecutor, which reported 29 inmates escaped, it was clarified that two inmates who were included in the first list are actually in prison in Apodaca." Spanish original

Rule of Law: Judge sentences four Apodaca prison officials

CNN Mexico: "A second level criminal court judge in Nuevo Leon sentenced four ex-prison officials and seventeen guards to prison, the Prosecutor’s Office informed on Thursday.

On February 23 the ex-director of the Apodaca Center for Readaptation, Geronimo Miguel Andres Martinez; the sub-director Juan Hernandez Hernandez; chief of security, Oscar Deveze Laureano; and cell block chief Marcos Ibarra Perez.

Moreover, 26 people remained in detention after being arraigned, nine of whom have not yet been criminally charged.

The officials and the guards were taken to the Topo Chico prison and are being held as responsible for the escape of 29 prisoners on February 19. The investigations of the state’s District Attorney’s office assert that the prison officials were receiving between 40,000 ($3,147.44 USD) and 15,000 pesos ($1,184.04 USD) and the guards received an average of 6,000 ($473.61 USD) pesos.

Additionally, they allowed the presumed boss of the Zetas cartel, Oscar Manuel Bernal, alias La Arana (The Spider) to control the prison, organizing parties with bands and women.

In the early morning hours of February 19, 44 prisoners, thought to have belonged to the Gulf Cartel, were killed, while 29 members of the Zeta cartel escaped." Spanish original

Mexican prisons: Forgotten by government and society

CNN Mexico: "The Mexican penitentiary model is obsolete; it fails to punish and deter criminals and also leaves the rehabilitation of prisoners in oblivion, said a panel held by Mexico Voices, a program broadcast by CNN.

"Society has spent 47 years forgetting prisoners, because they are our 'monsters', our forgotten children," said Jose Luis Musi, prison affairs specialist. According to the analyst, the prison crisis is due to the little attention that the three levels of government have given to this issue for several years. He noted that without reform, the prisons will continue to have riots and corruption.

"There is a lot of money for law enforcement: crime prevention, training of federal police, the war on drugs (...) but for this, no one spends money."

Of the 230,943 prisoners that are in the prison system throughout the country, 47,816 are under federal jurisdiction, but only 38% of these are in federal prisons. The remainder live in state prisons, according to the federal Public Security Secretariat (SSP).

For the journalist Nadia Sanders a major problem is that faced by families of prisoners. "Those who visit their realtives are mothers, wives and children. They suffer abuses and violations of their human rights, the environment is negative." She noted that torture and ill-treatment have been documented for years, as well as the impunity that exists within the prisons, "but neither society nor the government pay attention until riots or prison breaks occur."

In February, 44 people were killed and 30 prisoners escaped from the Social Rehabilitation Center (Cereso) in Apodaca, Nuevo Leon. Since the beginning of President Felipe Calderon's term, similar tragedies have occurred  in prisons in the states of Baja California, Tamaulipas, Durango and Chihuahua.

Musi regretted that the legislature does not study the effectiveness of penalties or new strategies to be implemented in rehabilitation centers. ... Musi said that if the prison crisis is not given attention, the problem will become uncontrolable. "Corruption will persist if the prisons directors are not prepared, if they don't think about clear objectives to reintegrate prisoners into society."" Spanish original 

Rule of Law: How to Fix Mexico's Broken Prisons

InSight Crime- "An incident earlier this week at the prison in Apodaca, in the tumultuous northern state of Nuevo Leon, resulted in the escape of 30 inmates and the massacre of 44. The dead, who succumbed to beatings and stab wounds, were members of the Gulf Cartel, while the perpetrators and the escapees belonged to the Zetas, a rival group. While the incident was widely described as a riot,·it seems to have been a carefully planned assault rather than a spontaneous eruption of violence, as with the mass killing in a Juarez jail last summer.

Such incidents of mass violence have become common in Mexico’s prison system. While the Apodaca killing was the worst on record, several comparable massacres have been documented in recent years: 19 prisoners were killed in a Gomez Palacio, Durango facility in 2009; 20 died in a Juarez facility in 2009, and another 17 were killed last year; 23 inmates wound up dead·in an incident in Durango in 2010; in Mazatlan, 28 prisoners were killed in 2010; and just last month, 31 inmates were killed in a Tamaulipas prison." read more

Drug War and Rule of Law: Search for escaped Zetas; prison staff on Zeta payroll

La Jornada: "Federal and state authorities in Coahuila, Tamaulipas and Veracruz states have established a government alert, which includes the installation of checkpoints, given their suspicion that the 30 members of Los Zetas, who escaped from the prison in Apodaca, Nuevo Leon, last Sunday, might have fled to these states. Ten of those involved in the killing of 44 inmates have been identified, officials of the federal government and Nuevo Leon announced.

According to the Attorney General of Nuevo Leon, the prison managers and custodians were in the service of the Zetas, receiving payments. The former prison director, Geronimo Miguel Andres Martinez, received 30,000 pesos a month ($2,300 US), and his subordinates received from 10,000 to 15,000 pesos ($770 to $1,150US). Guards, who receive a salary of six thousand pesos ($460US) a month, got 5 thousand pesos ($350US).

A source close to the investigation revealed that, according to testimony obtained from those involved in the leak, the main organizer of the execution of 44 inmates and the escape of 30 members of Los Zetas was the chief guard, Oscar Deveze Laureano.

... The former warden of Apodaca, Geronimo Miguel Andres Martinez Andres Martinez, who is under investigation for the escape, was removed from a similar position in 2009 because, as director of the Santa Martha Acatitla prison, he reputedly allowed a group of kidnappers and extortionists, the gang of Giovanni Bautista Rodriguez, to operate from the prison. He was never charged criminally." Spanish original

Rule of Law - Mexico prison riot: Mexico Human Rights Commission opens investigation

La Jornada: "The National Commission on Human Rights (CNDH) has opened an investigation into the murder of 44 prisoners and the escape of 30 others from the prison of Apodaca, Nuevo Leon, which occurred on Sunday, February 19.

In a statement, the agency headed by Raul Plascencia Villanueva reported that, exercising its power to analyze gross violations of human rights--previously the sole prerogative of the Supreme Court of Justice--the Commission will begin an inquiry into the incident Apodaca, which is now a national and international issue. CNDH staff... will monitor what local authorities do, and then make a recommendation.

Meanwhile, Amnesty International (AI) added itself to the call which various organizations in Mexico and abroad have made to Mexican authorities to conduct a thorough and impartial investigation into what happened in Apodaca and in the Topo Chico prison where, last Tuesday, three more inmates were killed..

... In the same vein, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) expressed its "concern" about what happened in Apodaca, and called upon the Mexican State "to adopt appropriate measures to prevent the recurrence of similar incidents and to investigate and punish those responsible."

As guarantors of the rights of inmates, governments "have a fundamental duty to ensure control and internal security of prisons and can in no way waive this inherent duty," the subsidiary of the Organization of American States stressed." Spanish original

Rule of Law - Mexico prison riot: Apodaca boss and guards arrested

BBC News: "The director of a Mexican prison and 28 guards have been arrested on suspicion of helping a mass breakout and massacre by gang members on Sunday. Thirty inmates with links to the Zetas drugs cartel escaped from the Apodaca jail during the unrest and 44 prisoners from a rival gang were killed.

Investigators say they have evidence that guards helped plan the killings." read more

Rule of Law: Pre-Trial Detention Brews Crisis in Latin America Prisons

InSight Crime: "Recent prison disasters, with a deadly fire in Honduras and a massacre in Mexico, point to the misuse of pre-trial detention in those countries' justice systems, stuffing penal facilities with people who haven't been charged with a crime.

... Both prisons were severely overcrowded, and filled with inmates who had not yet been convicted or charged. The Mexican prison ... was at 180 percent capacity. In Honduras, two-thirds of the inmate population were being held without a charge, or were awaiting trial. The prison, designed to hold 400 inmates, housed twice that number.

Both Mexico and Honduras have employed pre-trial detention as a core part of the national strategy against organized crime. In a functioning justice system, only those deemed to be high-risk or likely to flee the country are held in prison before trial. Instead, in these countries, suspected first-offense muggers and drug dealers are locked up alongside more serious offenders, with no chance of bail.

Not only has this filled prisons beyond capacity, but it has helped to foster corruption among prison guards, who are unable to exert control over the huge inmate population. The lack of a strong government penal authority further strengthens the networks of corruption and bribery found within the system." read more

Rule of Law: Grave situation in prisions is responsibility of states: Mexico Interior Secretary

La Jornada: "The head of the Ministry of the Interior, Alejandro Poiré Romero, acknowledged that about 70 percent of federal inmates are currently in state prisons.

Two days after the escape and death of inmates at the prison in Apodaca, Nuevo Leon, the official stressed the responsibility of state governments in such prison incidents. While he implicitly recognized that the federal government is lagging on the issue, he said that, regarding the states' prison issue, the Calderon administration has already done its part.

"Throughout the Calderon administration, there has not been one of these incidents in any of the federal prisons, not one," he said. He also emphasized that there are very dangerous inmates in federal prisons, such as kidnappers. "We are assuming our responsibility to reverse the historical pattern. We are doing it very quickly and without incident in federal prisons," he said.

He noted that at the end of his term (within nine months) eight new prisons will be ready, which will solve the problem of having thousands of inmates prosecuted for federal crimes being held in state prisons. However, he immediatley admitted that the building of more prisons "does not remove the problem of corruption in prisons."

Poiré also stated that the federal government provides resources to states for the maintenance of federal prisoners and for prison infrastructure development.

"Today, the total number of prisoners under federal jurisdiction is 47 thousand and, of these, more than 18,000 are in federal facilities, i.e., we have thirty-something percent of all federal inmates in federal custody," he said.

... In 2006, he claimed, there were six federal facilities and, in December 2011, there were 12 functioning. That is, at the beginning of this administration were only 3,164 inmates in prisons under federal jurisdiction and currently there are 18,283, up almost five times." Spanish original

Rule of Law: Calderon says government is addressing prison crisis

Milenio: " President Felipe Calderon said that in some states of the Republic, such as Tamaulipas and Nuevo Leon, "where their prison systems are in crisis", new prisons are being built. ...The president said that the majority of a dozen of these new prisons will be nearly ready this year." Also, we are building new institutions, revising the police, the Public Ministry (investigative police), modernizing, applying controls to improve confidence (in the police), creating the Federal Police." Spanish original

Drug War & Rule of Law: 9 prison guards confess to helping Zetas escape in deadly brawl

AP/LA Daily News: "Nine guards have confessed to helping Zetas drug gangsters escape from prison before other Zetas slaughtered 44 rival inmates, a state official said late Monday, underlining the enormous corruption inside Mexico's overcrowded, underfunded prisons.

The top officials and as many as 18 guards at the Apodaca prison in northern Mexico had been detained under suspicion that they may have helped 30 Zetas escape during the confusion of a riot early Sunday in which 44 members of the rival Gulf cartel were bludgeoned and knifed to death." read more

Rule of Law: New attack in another prison in Nuevo Leon, Mexico, leaves three dead

CNN Mexico: "A fight in a prison in Nuevo Leon left three inmates dead Tuesday morning, state officials said. The dead inmates, who had entered the Topo Chico prison on Monday, were killed with knives. ... The spokesman described the event as "a direct attack," and said that officials "discarded the possibility that it was the result of a clash between rival gangs." He added that local authorities will investigate." Spanish original

Rule of Law and Human Rights: UN Human Rights Commissioner calls for investigation of Apodaca prison deaths and escape

Milenio: "The High Commissioner of United Nations Human Rights (OHCHR) today called on Mexico to make an exhaustive inquiry into the deaths of 44 inmates and the escape of 30 inmates from the prison of Apodaca. "Those responsible, including the prison authorities, ought to be brought to justice and all necessary steps taken to prevent the recurrence of such attacks," said agency spokesman, Ravina Shamdasani.

Last week an OHCHR report criticized the state of prisons in Latin America. .... OHCHR urged the Mexican government "to ensure that minimum standards are observed in the conditions of federal and state prisons, ensuring that the security and integrity of the detainees is respected. We also call upon the National Human Rights Commission to monitor prison conditions throughout Mexico," Shamdasani said." Spanish original

Drug War: Mexico Says Prison Riot Masked Escape of Drug-Gang Members

Wall Street Journal—A day after 44 inmates died in Mexico's worst prison riot, authorities said they believed the massacre was a cover for the escape of 30 drug-gang members.

Nuevo León Gov. Rodrigo Medina said that 30 inmates, all members of the Zetas drug cartel, used the massacre on Sunday as cover for an escape from Apodaca state prison, a few miles from the state capital of Monterrey. "Without a doubt there was premeditation," said Mr. Medina, speaking at a news conference. "This was planned."

Mr. Medina said all the dead prisoners were members of the rival Gulf Cartel. The Zetas and the Gulf Cartel have been warring for two years for control of drug routes and lucrative drug markets, especially in the northeastern Mexican states of Nuevo León and Tamaulipas.

Mr. Medina said prison personnel appeared to have been involved in the massacre and escapes. He said four top prison officials had been fired from their jobs, as had 18 guards on duty at the time of the incident. All were being investigated for complicity, he said. As police and soldiers combed the state searching for the escaped prisoners, Mr. Medina said the state was offering a reward of about $800,000 for information leading to their capture. read more