South Colombia prison guards protest overcrowding

(Photo: El Tiempo)

Prison guards in the south of Colombia on Wednesday protested overcrowding in their penitentiaries, working conditions for staff and low wages, among other issues.

More than 80 prison officials working in the Las Heliconias and El Cunduy prisons in the city of Florencia, Caqueta, took to the streets in a motorized demonstration with whistles and banners, according to local newspaper El Lider. They were also joined by security guards and administrative officials.

The prison officials are demonstrating to further the negotiations put forward by the unions protesting in Bogota, who have developed

Giovanni Benavides, Inpec spokesman for the prison officials in Caqueta, said the protest is to get the attention of the government.

“Our prisons are crowded with people and we do not have enough permanent staff to care for them. Working conditions and wages are poor. Therefore we support the Regulation Plan and ask the government to pay attention to our list of demands and to negotiate with Inpec officials.”

According to Benavides, prison officials earn

The protests come after a Colombian man was sentenced to five months and six days in La Picota, one of Colombia’s harshest prisons reserved for drug traffickers and organised crime members, for the theft of two boxes of chocolate.

Colombia’s Minister of Justice, Alfonso Gomez, spoke to Blu Radio about the sentence, saying that not all crimes require a person to go to jail. Prisoners in overcrowded facilities are often forced to sleep on top of each other, and face serious “epidemics” and health problems

Sources

 

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