The second Annual Report of the Provincial Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment of Salta (CPT Salta), has as its main function to periodically examine the treatment of people deprived of their liberty in places of detention.
During 2023, the CPT Salta carried out an exhaustive monitoring and evaluation process in 18 prison facilities in the province. In this context, inspection visits were carried out to prison units and wardens, highlighting the functional distinction between these types of establishments and their implications on the lifestyle and enjoyment of rights of the housed population. The report details the actions carried out during the year, as well as the recommendations transmitted to the relevant organizations.
Among the most striking findings, the significant increase in complaints and individual actions stands out, many of them related to lack of medical care, inadequate detention conditions, mistreatment and limited access to benefits. Likewise, a worrying prison overpopulation is evident, especially in Alcaidía No. 1 of the Capital, which generates inhumane housing conditions that violate human dignity.
There are 8 prison units in the province: UC No. 1 in the city of Salta, UC No. 2 in Metán, UC No. 3 in Orán, UC No. 4 for women in the city of Salta, UC No. 5 in Tartagal , UC No. 6 Penal Farm in Rosario de Lerma, UC No. 7 Penal Farm in Cerrillos and UC No. 9 for women in Oran. In turn, the units of Metán, Orán and Tartagal have penal farms, although without functional independence.
“At first glance it can be seen that the high concentration of people deprived of liberty occurs in UC No. 1 of Salta, with 42% of the total. If we add the percentages corresponding to Alcaidía No. 1 and UC No. 4 of We find women in 66% of the total population in penitentiary units in the capital of Salta,” the report highlights.
Condition of the mattresses in Prison Unit No. 3.
In this context, the CPT Salta urges urgent action to address the problem of prison overpopulation and improve detention conditions, underlining the need for a comprehensive and coordinated articulation of effective policies between political and judicial actors.
By far the Unit with the highest level of overpopulation is Alcaidía No. 1 of Salta Capital (122.57%), followed by UC No. 1 of Salta, UC No. 5 of Tartagal and UC No. 4 of Women in values that are around 40%.
The Tribune interviewed lawyer Cristina del Valle Cobos Rodríguez (represents civil society organizations within the Committee), who offers a deep and critical look at prison conditions and the treatment of detainees in Salta.
“We have raised the consequences of this overcrowding with the Ministry of Security or the three hundred prisoners who today do not have a mattress. Of course the Minister alleges a lack of budget, and now it has worsened much more in recent times. We continue to insist and we will continue insisting because it is an issue that has to be resolved. On the other hand, the treatment, the mistreatment that prisoners receive, although it is not on the part of all prison staff, that is also denounced by the Committee and we closely follow all these issues. to see if they are absolutely eradicated,” he said.
In it, several worrying points are highlighted, such as overcrowding in prisons, the lack of adequate medical care and problems in the process of visiting inmates. Cristina clearly exposes the deficiencies in prison infrastructure and points out the urgency of addressing these issues. Furthermore, she highlights the importance of ensuring respect for the human rights of prisoners, including access to timely medical care and improvement in living conditions inside prisons.
“With regard to visits to prisoners, we carried out monitoring to effectively verify how this visit takes place and we have verified the long lines that family members form outside, in the rain, the sun from ten in the morning until they enter the prison. starting at one thirty. But that entry is not to see the detainee. There is a series of bureaucracies that occur in the searches and the control of documentation to enter the prison. All of this takes a fairly significant amount of time. in the sense that when the visitor enters the prison he does so for an hour, an hour and a half. We have also observed all that bureaucracy and made recommendations in this regard to expedite this issue,” he highlighted.
Cobos expressed that this delay generates conflicts not only for the person who is entering, but also for the detainee himself. “It generates discomfort and when the visit arrives it is already poorly predisposed,” he said and stressed that to find a solution you don’t need money but common sense and a little organization, nothing more.
One of the problems that they recommended to the Ministry of Security that it should urgently address is the lack of medical care. “For us, a medical team is a priority because the prisoners have to request appointments at the San Bernardo hospital. But what happens? When they get the appointments, and sometimes they do not have anything to transport them, they lose the appointment and if they have a serious situation they cannot wait. in order to be attended to. We have discussed this situation with the Ministry of Health, who were very concerned, so we asked if a prevention room could be put in the Prison Unit itself,” he concluded.
