On March 17, the confrontation between prisoners in the Cómbita Boyacá prison was known in the morning, which would have left two prisoners dead and another injured.
According to Revista Semana, it was a personal confrontation between prisoners who remained in the same cell, so the security force had to intervene. Inpec assured that it was a fight that could be controlled so that it would not turn into a mutiny.
The media said that the fight took place in the medium security wing, where the least dangerous inmates are. According to RCN Mundo, the representative of Cómbita said that the causes of the quarrel inside the prison are not yet known.
About the prisoner who was injured, the Boyacá ombudsman told the media outlet that he was given all the necessary medical attention and is out of danger.
“As for the inmate who was injured, he is already being treated at the San Rafael University Hospital in Tunja and it could be said that he is out of danger”, Fredy Ivanny Pardo, defender of the People of Boyacá.
The authorities gave some reassurance to the prisoners' families and said that this is an isolated event.
“Visits have been carried out as normal, one weekend family visit and the other conjugal visit, it must be clarified that the events recorded will not alter the schedules of visits already scheduled for the next holiday weekend,” said Tocarruncho.
This problem could be due to overcrowding in one of the largest and most important prisons in Colombia. According to INPEC figures, the maximum capacity of the prison is 2,664 prisoners, but in January of this year it reached 3,901 inmates.
The Private Security Companies (ECOS) asked the national government to allow private sectors to build and manage prisons. The executive director of the Colombian Private Security Companies, Ecos, Carolina Carillo commented: “We urgently call on the National Government to implement, in accordance with the provisions of citizen law, all mechanisms for the surveillance and private security sector to be implemented at the municipal, district and departments, to begin offering the construction, administration and maintenance of prisons.”
In the statement, they mentioned that one of the important aspects of this proposal is to be able to redirect the legality and control of prisons, both to ensure that the deprived of liberty have a better condition and to ensure that the prison is better functioning, optimally and without problems of corruption. “In which corruption can be dismantled or greater control over such cases”.
On the control of these sites, they commented that uniformed personnel will be present to provide security guarantees: “The police officers would perform functions specific to their activity, thus obtaining the guarantee in their trade, where continuous training will be offered.”
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