LATIN AMERICA / AMERICA LATINA stores. There are restrictions in some centers; dosage and temporality are important and they are what enable these extraordinary measures to achieve the goal. We have had a constant relationship with human rights organizations and with the Human Rights Attorney Office, which has unrestricted access to all our prisons. The right to health is not at any time even limited, in fact, we are providing health care with greater emphasis in centers that are under extraordinary measures. Extraordinary measures are not measures to violate human rights, instead they aim to recover and maintain control in these detention centers. In a detention center under measures( Ciudad Barrios), the inmates recently exploded a grenade, attacking each other within the same gang, the MS... Weapons had been in their possession for many years, both due to the complexity of performing our inspection procedures, and due to the overcrowding issue; also the the accumulation of clothes and things that the prisoners take to the jail without major control... With the [ extraordinary ] measures we are able to streamline, deepen, and improve the inspection procedures. There is a tendency for some leaders of criminal gang structures to order that some of their members do not eat their daily meals, so that they will fall into malnutrition and, possibly, the goal might be that they end up dead. Then they take advantage of the situation to detract the application of the measures or affect our public safety policy. We are already taking the necessary measures to correct this situation, but that also gives you an idea of the seriousness of the problem we have with the gangs; they’ re capable of anything to go on having control within the system.
LATIN AMERICA / AMERICA LATINA stores. There are restrictions in some centers; dosage and temporality are important and they are what enable these extraordinary measures to achieve the goal. We have had a constant relationship with human rights organizations and with the Human Rights Attorney Office, which has unrestricted access to all our prisons. The right to health is not at any time even limited, in fact, we are providing health care with greater emphasis in centers that are under extraordinary measures. Extraordinary measures are not measures to violate human rights, instead they aim to recover and maintain control in these detention centers. In a detention center under measures( Ciudad Barrios), the inmates recently exploded a grenade, attacking each other within the same gang, the MS... Weapons had been in their possession for many years, both due to the complexity of performing our inspection procedures, and due to the overcrowding issue; also the the accumulation of clothes and things that the prisoners take to the jail without major control... With the [ extraordinary ] measures we are able to streamline, deepen, and improve the inspection procedures. There is a tendency for some leaders of criminal gang structures to order that some of their members do not eat their daily meals, so that they will fall into malnutrition and, possibly, the goal might be that they end up dead. Then they take advantage of the situation to detract the application of the measures or affect our public safety policy. We are already taking the necessary measures to correct this situation, but that also gives you an idea of the seriousness of the problem we have with the gangs; they’ re capable of anything to go on having control within the system.
JT: Are these extraordinary measures enough or do you plan further ones in order to control and hinder the power of the gangs?
RH: So far they have proved to be enough. The dismantling of the criminal structure and the isolation of its“ heads” have allowed the daily average of homicides in the country to be reduced from 22 daily homicides – before the implementation of the extraordinary measures( 95 % of these homicides are linked to gangs, both as perpetrators or as victims) – to an average of 9.2 daily homicides, and the trend, from day to day, is going down. The financial structure of the gangs has been razed and the territorial control that gangs used to have over communities has also been reduced. All of this has to do directly with the control that is being taken in prisons, because there was a very direct connection with those who were in prison directing the criminal activity outside, in the streets.
JT: Would you please comment on the role that the external cooperation entities play in the reform of the Salvadoran penitentiary system?
RH: They are very important. We have a lot of international cooperation, especially from AECID, the Spanish cooperation agency. They have greatly supported us in relaunching our correctional school, in the training of our staff, especially with con un modelo nuevo de formación. Aunque estén estas medidas extraordinarias, no es cierto que los privados de libertad se pasen las 24 horas en sus celdas; se han autorizado horas para libertad ambulatoria y hay también acceso a la adquisición de bienes y servicios a través de nuestro sistema de tiendas institucionales. Hay restricciones en algunos centros, es decir, la dosificación y la temporalidad son importantes y permiten que las medidas extraordinarias logren el objetivo. Hemos tenido una constante interrelación con las organizaciones de derechos humanos y con la Procuraduría para la Defensa de los Derechos Humanos, que tiene un acceso irrestricto a todas nuestras prisiones. El derecho a la salud no está en ningún momento ni siquiera limitado, de hecho, estamos dando atención de salud con mayor énfasis en los centros bajo las medidas extraordinarias. Las medidas extraordinarias no son medidas para violar derechos humanos, tienen como objetivo recuperar y mantener el control en estos centros penales. En un centro penal bajo medidas( Ciudad Barrios), recientemente los internos estallaron una granada, atacándose entre ellos mismos dentro de la misma pandilla, la MS … Armas que tenían ahí en su poder desde hace muchos años, debido a la complejidad de realizar nuestras requisas, por toda la sobrepoblación, la acumulación de ropa y de cosas que los reos llevan a la cárcel sin mayor control. Con las medidas [ extraordinarias ] agilizamos, profundizamos, y mejoramos los procedimientos de revisión. Hay una tendencia de algunos cabecillas de las estructuras delincuenciales de pandillas de ordenar que algunos de sus miembros no coman la ración diaria para que vayan cayendo en una situación de desnutrición y que posiblemente el objetivo haya sido que deriven en muertes y que luego puedan servir para desvirtuar la aplicación de las medidas o afectar nuestra política de seguridad pública. Estamos tomando ya las medidas pertinentes para corregir esta situación, pero eso te da una muestra también de la gravedad del problema que tenemos con esos grupos de pandillas; son capaces de hacer cualquier cosa para seguir manteniendo el control dentro del sistema.
JT: ¿ Estas medidas extraordinarias son suficientes o plantean otras para controlar y detener la fuerza de las pandillas?
RH: Por el momento han demostrado que son suficientes. La desarticulación de la estructura criminal y el aislamiento de“ las cabezas” han permitido reducir el promedio diario de homicidios en el país, de 22 homicidios diarios – antes de la aplicación de las medidas extraordinarias( el 95 % de estos homicidios está vinculado a las pandillas, como hechores o como víctimas) – a un promedio de 9.2 homicidios diarios y la tendencia, cada día, es hacia bajo. Se ha golpeado la estructura financiera de las pandillas y el control territorial que las pandillas ejercían en las comunidades también se ha visto mermado. Entonces, todo eso tiene que ver directamente con el control que se está tomando en las cárceles, porque aquí había una relación muy directa con los que estaban en la cárcel dirigiendo prácticamente el quehacer criminal afuera, en las calles.
J U N E / J U N I O 2017 JUSTICE TRENDS // 157