NGO estimates overcrowding of 54% in the country’s prisons

The NGO Venezuelan Prison Observatory (OVP) estimated this Thursday an overcrowding of 54% in the country’s prisons, where – it stated – the inmate population is 30,332 inmates, housed in spaces with real capacity for 19,688 people.

In the presentation of a recent report, the OVP stated that when there is an overpopulation of more than 40%, there is “critical overcrowding.”

According to the director of the organization, Humberto Prado, in Venezuela there are 52 prisons, of which only 38 are operational and 14 have been closed by the State.

He explained that if the 14 closed penitentiary centers were operational, Venezuela would have 7,350 more places.

The OVP asked the State to guarantee the human rights of people deprived of liberty, including voting, after mentioning the last elections of July 28, in which only 1,900 prisoners were eligible to vote, as declared by the Minister of the Penitentiary Service, Julio Zerpa.

On October 4, Prado said that the State does not offer “proper food” to prisoners who are in a prison located in the state of Carabobo (north).

The OVP maintained that it has received complaints from relatives who report that the detainees eat “a dry and thin arepa, have pasta with meat or rice with meat for lunch, and have grains for dinner,” in addition to only drinking “water twice a day.”.