OVP reports 7,414 prisoners in CICPC lock-ups with detention periods of up to 615 days
The Venezuelan Prison Observatory documented a network of "parallel prisons" in CICPC police stations with more than 7,400 detainees. The average length of stay exceeds 20 months.
More than 7,400 people detained in Venezuelan police lock-ups, according to OVP
The Venezuelan Prison Observatory (OVP) reported to martinoticias.com the existence of a network of "parallel prisons" operated by the Scientific, Criminal and Forensic Investigation Police (CICPC) in Venezuela, where thousands of people remain detained for months or years in facilities originally designed for temporary detention.
The OVP investigation counted 7,414 people deprived of liberty in 157 CICPC facilities across the country. Of those facilities, 24 correspond to federal entities and 133 to municipal delegations, coordinations, divisions and other departments of the body attached to the Ministry of Justice.
Origin of the problem: an order from 2011
According to the OVP, the situation dates back to 3 August 2011, when the then minister of Prison Affairs Iris Varela ordered suspension of the admission of new inmates to prisons without express authorisation from her office. Fifteen years later, the police lock-ups ended up assuming functions of penitentiary establishments, the organisation states.
The Venezuelan Constitution establishes that every detained person must be presented before a judicial authority within 48 hours following their apprehension. However, the OVP determined that the average length of stay in these facilities reaches 615 days—approximately one year and eight months.
One-third of detainees have been in lock-ups for more than two years
58 per cent of those detained accumulate more than one year deprived of liberty. More precisely, 2,481 people—33.5 per cent of the total—exceed two years in those facilities, which is equivalent to approximately one in every three detainees.
The report further indicates that 6,518 people, 87.9 per cent of the total, are in the condition of those awaiting trial, whilst only 896, 12.1 per cent, are registered as convicted. For the OVP, these figures show that preventive detention ceased to operate as an exceptional measure and became, in practice, prolonged detention within police facilities.
Geographical distribution
The situation extends across the entire national territory. The Capital District contains 1,013 detainees; Zulia, 864; Miranda, 733; Carabobo, 616; and Aragua, 562. These five states account for nearly half of the people counted in CICPC lock-ups.
Irregular charges of up to 200 dollars
The report also includes complaints from relatives about payments of up to 200 dollars to access elementary detention conditions. According to testimonies collected by the OVP, charges are reportedly imposed for food, medical care and telephone calls. The organisation warns that these practices constitute a form of corruption that increases the vulnerability of people deprived of liberty.
The Observatory further points out that there is insufficient and verifiable public information on budgetary resources allocated to maintain detainees in these facilities.
Demands from the OVP
Faced with this situation, the organisation calls for reducing the excessive use of preventive detention, accelerating judicial processes, transferring detainees to adequate penitentiary establishments, strengthening independent oversight and periodically publishing data on detention conditions.
"Police lock-ups cannot continue operating as parallel prisons," the OVP concludes.
Source: Google News VE — Crime