Prisoners in Cómbita prison, Boyacá, report irregularities in the delivery of their food

In the last few hours, a new complaint was released by persons who remain deprived of liberty in the Cómbita prison, located in the department of Boyacá. In the statement, the prisoners point out that they are being victims of an injustice and that is that the meals of the day are being given at inappropriate times.

They pointed out in the public complaint that breakfast for prisoners is given at 4:00 in the afternoon, while lunch at 7:00 in the evening and dinner at midnight.

Alexander Chema is the prisoner who publicly released the complaint. As quoted by the newspaper El Colombiano, the prisoner addressed the supervisory agencies to report “the serious situation that has been occurring in the Cómbita Boyacá prison... at 2:00 in the afternoon of April 11 , the company has not supplied either breakfast or lunch to the private population of freedom”.

It should be noted that the consortium responsible for supplying food to the prison population is Nutrispec, whose representative is Hernán Astudillo. The prisoner who took the spokesperson for the other prisoners said that the company has already been denounced to the Prison Services Unit (USPEC), the Office of the Procurator and the Ombudsman's Office, which is why they have been waiting for results.

The prisoner added that the problem has been triggered because “the inmates who work at the ranch have not received their bonuses since December” and because the company also does not guarantee the ingredients for the meals to be made.

In a dialogue with Blu Radio, the man who leads the human rights table pointed out that the problem has been occurring in the Cómbita prison because the company responsible for supplying food to prisoners is not fulfilling its contract and added that because of their claims they could face problems.

Despite the fact that the prisoners' complaints have been made constant before the directives of the prison center, Chema decided to make the situation known to the media because she indicated that they have been warned not to complain any more. “We want to make the complaint public, that what happens is the responsibility of management and Captain Pardo Fandiño,” he told the station.

It is also important to note that, according to INPEC, the Cómbita prison has a capacity for 2,664 prisoners, but in January of this year the population reached 3,901 persons, that is, an overcrowding of 46.4%.

According to the prisoner, on Monday, April 11, in view of the increased discomfort on the part of the prisoners because at 2:00 in the afternoon they still did not receive breakfast, they had a meeting with the prison directors and the surveillance commander, Captain Pardo Fandiño, warned them that if they continued to protest and did not stay in their cells, they would call the police and the Inpec reaction groups.

However, the regional newspaper El Diario added that in the complaint Alexander Chema also details that the prisoners who work at the 'ranch', where food is prepared, have been on strike since December due to non-payment, which is a bonus they receive. In the same way, he pointed out that this is because Uspec itself has not disbursed the resources to the company for the payment of food to personnel deprived of liberty.

“All these situations demonstrate a serious situation of corruption with the contracts drawn up by Uspec,” Chema insisted, according to the regional media, for the responsible authorities to take action on the matter that is harming the health of the prison population of Cómbita.

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