HomeNewsBriefMexico Government Prisons Study Glosses Over Riots, Abuse
BRIEF

Mexico Government Prisons Study Glosses Over Riots, Abuse

MEXICO / 3 AUG 2017 BY CAROLINE KURITZKES EN

A new government study of Mexico's prison system paints a relatively favorable portrait of penitentiary conditions -- at least in a regional context. But it also sidesteps some of the most glaring problems plaguing the country's penal institutions.

The July 2017 report released by Mexico's National Statistics and Geography Institute (Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Geografía - INEGI) presents survey data on the country's adult prison population in more than 300 federal, state and municipal penitentiaries during 2016.

The bureau estimates that 46 percent of prisoners share cells with more than five people, while 82 percent have their own beds. Almost all (98.4 percent) are fed, 84 percent access medical services, and 75 percent receive visitors.

The report also provides data pointing to irregularities, corruption and obstruction of justice within Mexico's penitentiaries.

Of the 62 percent of prisoners who provided statements to prosecutors, almost half were pressured by police to alter their testimony, the survey found.

More than 20 percent of prisoners were apprehended on private property without a proper arrest warrant. And 40 percent were victims of corruption, typically paying prison officials for access to basic services.

InSight Crime Analysis

The INEGI report's findings regarding certain aspects of Mexico's prison system suggest that issues like overcrowding and lack of access to basic goods and services are less severe in Mexico's prisons than in those of some of its Central American neighbors. El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras, for example, all have higher overcrowding rates than Mexico. Conditions in El Salvador's prisons are notoriously hellish; human rights officials have criticized the lack of adequate food, healthcare and sanitation as "inhumane" and even likened the situation to the horrors witnessed in Nazi Germany.

SEE ALSO: Mexico News and Profile

However, the report glosses over other controversial problems in Mexico's penitentiaries. For example, Mexico has come under repeated fire from human rights groups like Amnesty International for a sizeable increase in torture complaints between 2003 and 2013, but INEGI failed to include torture as an indicator in its survey.

Moreover, the survey makes no mention of prison riots or the influence of organized crime behind bars, problems endemic to Mexico's penal system that have surfaced in recent months. A May 2017 government report found that organized crime groups control 65 percent of state prisons in Mexico. That same month, the Mexican news outlet Milenio released a video recorded in one of the country's maximum-security prisons that showed detained members of the Jalisco Cartel New Generation (Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generación - CJNG) throwing a party, exemplifying Mexican authorities' lack of control over the country's penitentiaries.

Mexican lawmakers have previously advanced legislation aimed at addressing some of these issues, but limited political will and resource constraints suggest implementing such reforms will be a slow process.

share icon icon icon

Was this content helpful?

We want to sustain Latin America’s largest organized crime database, but in order to do so, we need resources.

DONATE

What are your thoughts? Click here to send InSight Crime your comments.

We encourage readers to copy and distribute our work for non-commercial purposes, with attribution to InSight Crime in the byline and links to the original at both the top and bottom of the article. Check the Creative Commons website for more details of how to share our work, and please send us an email if you use an article.

Was this content helpful?

We want to sustain Latin America’s largest organized crime database, but in order to do so, we need resources.

DONATE

Related Content

GULF CARTEL / 30 AUG 2021

It was a Saturday, around 12:30 p.m. local time, when a caravan of three vehicles loaded with well-armed men and…

HUMAN RIGHTS / 27 JUL 2021

Reports of migrants dying and disappearing in the US-Mexico borderlands are becoming increasingly common, propelled in part by a restrictive…

COVID AND CRIME / 22 JUL 2021

After peddling fake tests and vaccines for the coronavirus, criminals are now selling counterfeit vaccination certificates in Mexico City, allowing…

About InSight Crime

THE ORGANIZATION

All Eyes on Ecuador

2 JUN 2023

Our coverage of organized crime in Ecuador continues to be a valuable resource for international and local news outlets. Internationally, Reuters cited our 2022 Homicide Round-Up,…

WORK WITH US

Open Position: Social Media and Engagement Strategist

27 MAY 2023

InSight Crime is looking for a Social Media and Engagement Strategist who will be focused on maintaining and improving InSight Crime’s reputation and interaction with its audiences through publishing activities…

THE ORGANIZATION

Venezuela Coverage Receives Great Reception

27 MAY 2023

Several of InSight Crime’s most recent articles about Venezuela have been well received by regional media. Our article on Venezuela’s colectivos expanding beyond their political role to control access to…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime's Chemical Precursor Report Continues

19 MAY 2023

For the second week in a row, our investigation into the flow of precursor chemicals for the manufacture of synthetic drugs in Mexico has been cited by multiple regional media…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime’s Chemical Precursor Report Widely Cited

THE ORGANIZATION / 12 MAY 2023

We are proud to see that our recently published investigation into the supply chain of chemical precursors feeding Mexico’s synthetic drug production has been warmly received.