On December 31 there were 16,118 persons behind bars, a five percent increase in recent months.

The rate of prisoners is 460 per 100,000 inhabitants, one of the highest in the region.

There are 14,719 men, 1,344 women, 21 trans men, and 34 trans women in the prison system.

The report indicates a three percent increase in the male population and a 17 percent increase in the female population.

At the same time, the Ministry of the Interior has 2,280 vacancies under construction.

Next week a new meeting will be held by Judge Blanca Riero to review the progress of the Working Group against prison overcrowding.

The working group is made up of the parliamentary commissioner for prisons, Juan Miguel Petit, the National Institute of Rehabilitation, the State Health Services Administration, the frenteamplista congresswoman Bettiana Díaz, and the Organization of Civilian Prison Officials.

This organization filed a collective corrective habeas corpus to improve the conditions of prison authorities’ confinement and work.

To this end, it proposed 10 measures, among them health and mental health care, food, and the reinforcement of the staffing of operators.

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