Starting next July, Neiva will be in charge of feeding the population deprived of liberty, who are detained in the Temporary Detention Centers. Without ignoring the poor conditions in which this population group finds itself, where there is overcrowding and humidity.
Diario del Huila, Huila
By: Anderson Hernandez
In the capital Opita, the eighth Public Penitentiary Table was held, with the accompaniment of the municipal representative at the time, the Provincial Attorney’s Office and Regional Attorney’s Office, the Ombudsman’s Office and institutions such as the Neiva Metropolitan Police, the Surcolombiana University and the Mayor’s Office of Neiva.
At the meeting, they discussed issues related to overcrowding in the Transitional Detention Centers (CDT), security and other aspects. The Centers are located on Calle 2 Sur with Carrera 7, Sur, the CAI Bogotá and the third is located in the El Caguán district.
Neiva in charge of the detainees
In this sense, it was known that in these CDTs, they have overcrowding problems, without ignoring that there are inmates who have health conditions, some with tuberculosis.
Jerson Bastidas, representative of Neiva.
“There is an unfortunate situation that exists in three spaces. And the city has a place called the old Alpina Cellars. The capital Opita is in charge of the responsibility of both the people who are strictly captured and prosecuted in the municipality of Neiva, as well as in other municipalities of the Department, this is because in the city, the operation center of the Branch is located. Judicial of the region and already in the hearings, the judge orders the confinement of these people in one of these centers,” said the representative of Neiva, Jerson Andrés Bastidas.
That is where the problem begins to arise, because the capital takes action, assumes more responsibility, than that supported by other municipalities.
“And this situation generates an overload, not only physically, but also budgetarily. It is important to inform you that as of July of this year, the municipality of Neiva and all the territorial entities of Colombia are responsible for supplying food to each and every one of the PPL, who are in these spaces,” the official highlighted.
The money that the city should allocate
At this time, the Penitentiary and Prison Services Unit – USPEC and Inpec are in charge of feeding the detainees.
“That is, the cost of feeding the people deprived of liberty who are in the CDT, today the municipalities still do not have it, starting in July Neiva will have it and according to the information provided by the Secretary of Government “This responsibility has been calculated at a figure greater than $1.8 billion annually,” the official highlighted.
Without ignoring the unfortunate infrastructure situations in which these places find themselves, where overcrowding occurs and this leads to the investment of public resources, at least in the Alpina Wineries, a ‘jailhouse’ has been adapted.
Recently, 25 prisoners were transferred to national penitentiaries.
The representative added that the facilities in question are not suitable for holding people deprived of their liberty there. “It will never be enough, starting because this is not an ideal place, nor technically adaptable to that type of service.
Already on April 10 of this year, the Prison Table was held, where the different problems experienced by the PPL were studied.
The meeting held and measures
With a specific focus on issues such as overcrowding, security, infrastructure, food and health of people deprived of liberty, the Municipal Penitentiary and Prison Table was an important space for discussion and setting actions.
During the meeting, strategies were defined to address the problems effectively. The Neiva Health Secretariat committed to continuously monitoring people deprived of liberty, especially those in these centers, to guarantee their well-being and prevent the spread of diseases, including tuberculosis.
“From the control organizations we have committed to establishing a series of spaces, meetings with representatives of the judicial branch, with representatives of the USPEC, which is the prison operator at the national level, as well as with municipal authorities, in the interest of power. to expedite, to establish urgent, prompt measures regarding the deplorable conditions in which more than 300 people are detained in the place called the old Alpina warehouses,” reported Jerson Andrés Bastidas, municipal representative of Neiva.
Those deprived of liberty and tuberculosis
The official highlighted the importance of the Tables, since they allow us to know the progress regarding the responsibilities that each entity has, in relation to health, overcrowding, among other difficult situations, and to demand that they comply with their obligations.
Detainees with tuberculosis would not be reporting the illness, so that their visits would not be restricted.
“Until April 9 of the current year, we had three cases of tuberculosis reported in the CDTs of Neiva, especially in the Alpina Wineries, one of them was detected by officials assigned to the Ministry of Health. And in the Penitentiary and Prison establishment of the city, on April 10, we had 97 people with tuberculosis, who are already undergoing medical treatment and according to what a doctor told us, once the process began, this type of pathology, It reduces the risk of transmission and this does not mean that this pathology is eliminated from the roots,” the representative stressed.
Among the negative aspects found to ‘combat’ this disease, is that the detainees do not maintain distance, the facilities have humid conditions, they are extremely overcrowded and sometimes they do not have adequate protection measures, they do not have them or they are not they supply them.
You can read: Authorities in Neiva analyze possible risk situations
Detainees hide their ailments
Likewise, it was learned that the population deprived of liberty would not be informed that they were sick. “These people, fearing that they will be transferred or that their family visits will be restricted, prefer not to tell the truth, choosing to remain silent and this leads to increasing difficulties like the one we have, such as the high rate of tuberculosis, which is already mentioned”, the personero.
“Fortunately, the number of detainees infected with this disease (tuberculosis) has decreased, taking into account that in February we had 150 people, ‘today’ we have 97 who are in the Neiva Prison, of which 96 are men. and 1 woman,” the official reported.
It has been suggested that the EPS, Ministry of Health and Inpec, take action on the situation and establish a contingency plan.
According to the representative, in the CAI Bogotá and in the CDT, located in the Caguán district, no cases of tuberculosis or infectious-contagious diseases have been reported.
“It has been suggested that the competent organizations, EPS, Ministry of Health and Inpec, take action on the situation and establish a contingency plan, to try to prevent the spread of the contagion of these people. And recently, 25 people deprived of their liberty were transferred to national prisons, the legal professional revealed.
Already last February, the National Government declared a prison emergency in all the country’s detention centers in response to the recent cases of homicides, attacks and threats against the guard personnel of the National Penitentiary and Prison Institute (Inpec) in different Colombian prisons.
The decision was made this Monday morning, during the Session of the Inpec Board of Directors, in which the Vice Minister of Criminal Policy and Restorative Justice, Camilo Umaña, participated; the deputy prosecutor, Martha Mancera; the director of Inpec, Daniel Gutiérrez; and the representative of the Police, Brigadier General Nicolás Alejandro Zapata; among other officials.
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