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Photo caption, Élmer Fernandez assumed the path of La Modelo in April 2024. Article info
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17 May 2024, 02:45 GMT
The director of the La Modelo jail, retired colonel Élmer Fernandez, 57, was murdered this Thursday in Bogotá whereas he was touring residence within the afternoon.
The information was confirmed by the Colombian Minister of Justice, Néstor Osuna, who introduced an operation to search out these accountable for the murder and warranted that the safety of the National Penitentiary Institute (Inpec) will likely be strengthened.
The photos of the assault present a dark-colored automotive with the mark of a shot in one of many home windows that apparently was carried out by individuals on board a bike.
Until now, additional particulars of what occurred are unknown. The id of these accountable can be unknown.
Colonel Fernández, who retired from the police in 2017 and had held the place at La Modelo for six weeks, had acquired threats for his makes an attempt to reform and management the jail, which included fixed searches of inmates, in accordance with the press. native.
picture copyrightEPA
The president of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, condemned the homicide and despatched a message of solidarity to Fernández’s household.
The colonel “had taken workplace on April 4, he was finishing up orders to impart self-discipline and finishing up random searches. Today he’s vilely murdered,” Petro wrote in his X account.
His authorities is anticipated to announce a contingency plan for the nation’s prisons.
Daniel Gutiérrez, director of Inpec, mentioned that Fernández’s homicide is essentially the most severe incident, that they’ve acquired 550 threats in two years and that the establishment “doesn’t have the capabilities to safeguard the lives of penitentiary officers.”
picture copyrightEPA
Hard reminiscence of darkish instances
Analysis by José Carlos Cueto, BBC News Mundo correspondent in Colombia
Shot in the midst of the afternoon and in the midst of a public highway.
The circumstances of the homicide of Élmer Fernández, director of the La Modelo jail in Bogotá, are a harsh reminder of darker instances for Bogota residents.
A number of kilometers from NQS Avenue and eightieth Street, the place the murder occurred, hitmen ended the lifetime of Justice Minister Rodrigo Lara Bonilla 40 years in the past, who was waging an open warfare towards drug trafficking and arranged crime that was then headed by the Pablo Escobar’s Medellín poster.
Like Bonilla and different officers who died throughout that turbulent time, Fernández additionally confronted loss of life threats for his work towards crime.
The murder scene was quickly crammed with police, ambulances, journalists and onlookers.
The media and official channels requested for endurance from all drivers who needed to move by way of police checkpoints in a time-trial operation to catch these concerned.
As the hours move, the preliminary shock of Colombians provides technique to indignation.
Many marvel how, if Fernández was threatened with loss of life, he didn’t have enough safety preparations.
They additionally query the state of the nation’s prisons, trying with concern in direction of different Latin American international locations the place they’ve change into de facto facilities of operations for felony organizations.
There was additionally no scarcity of criticism of Petro’s administration, who promised safety enhancements and jail reforms throughout his bold electoral marketing campaign.
There are many inquiries to be resolved, however as we speak is a type of days once we keep in mind a actuality that’s troublesome to digest: in Colombia there are nonetheless criminals who dare to problem the State.
jail emergency
Photo caption, La Modelo has capability for two,900 prisoners.
Fernández’s homicide happens within the midst of a jail emergency in Colombia.
This was declared in the beginning of February in “response to current instances of homicides, assaults and threats towards Inpec guard personnel in several prisons within the nation,” the Ministry of Justice reported in an announcement.
It is the fourth emergency of this kind within the nation’s historical past. The earlier one was in 2020 throughout the covid-19 pandemic.
With the measure, the authorities search to control in-person visits in prisons, have higher autonomy within the execution of budgets and request reinforcements from the general public power to ensure the safety of the penitentiary facilities and the personnel in cost.
As reported by Inpec, “among the many antecedents that led to this willpower, a 41% enhance in instances of extortion additionally stands out” and “a 100% enhance is noticed in safety incidents associated to jail workers in comparison with earlier 12 months,” the assertion mentioned.
The La Modelo jail, which has capability for two,900 prisoners, was additionally within the information throughout the pandemic as a consequence of overcrowding, when there have been robust riots through which 23 individuals died and 83 have been injured.
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