Neither the fact that it is obsolete nor that it is overcrowded,
nor even the lack of material resources can
serve as an excuse for the conditions of detention in the
high security prison of YANAMAYO. The location of the
prison, which is still fairly recent, and its architecture
have been chosen on purpose to inflict a kind of
treatment on the prisoners which is not only physically
destructive, but also utterly soul-destroying.
It is located in PUNO, 4,200 metres high, in a very
remote part of the country on the border with Bolivia,
near Lake Titicaca, with average temperatures of -7 C at
night, 4 C during the day and the lowest temperature at -14 C.
The building, entirely made of concrete, has neither
thermal insulation, nor heating, nor hot water, nor
running water. The ground where it is built causes water
to stagnate, which makes the sanitary conditions
resulting from the climate even worse. The construction
materials and the way they have been arranged do not
allow the tiniest bit of sunlight in. The buildings where
the prisoners are detained are built according to a very
simple plan: The cubical cells are made of five concrete
walls. The sixth side is made of enormous bars
overlooking a long narrow corridor.
The only source of light are small high windows in that
corridor, with frames which are not tight. So, the cell
block and the corridor are open to draughts, but do not
let any sunlight in.
At the end of each corridor, at least one cell does not get
any daylight, not even in bright daylight. It is only lit by a
small bulb on the ceiling. Each cell is about 2.5 x 2.5
metres. Part of the surface is occupied by concrete
shelves placed one above the other and serving as beds
for the two occupants. The rest of the space is taken up
by a concrete block where a few personal belongings can
be kept and a "slopping-out bucket". This leaves the
occupants with literally 1 free square metre where they
can move.
The occupants of these cells are "granted" 1 hour in the
courtyard a day, leaving them with 23 hours to endure
every day without any kind of freedom of movement,
under the conditions already described. Prisoners are not
allowed to go out to the corridors to work, nor are they
allowed a thermos flask to keep a little hot drink.
Needless to say, the enormous bars which form the sixth
side of the cubicle do not allow any kind of privacy.
All the prisoners said they were suffering from chronic
hunger, with only one substantial meal being distributed
once a day, at lunchtime. Breakfast and supper merely
consist of lukewarm water and bread or a very light
soup. The prison management allows a food budget of $
2 per prisoner per day, in theory. Food supplies by their
families are only allowed to a certain limit, for so-called
reasons of security.
Most prisoners have their families too far away or they
are too poor to be able to benefit from the weekly visit of
one hour granted to their immediate relatives. These
visits, including those for children, take place in dark
interview rooms, with prisoners and visitors separated by
narrow double bars with a thick screen, so that you can
only make out the silhouette of the other person.
No schooling is provided within the compound and there
are no workshops. Television, radio and papers are
prohibited; only a few books are left for the prisoners and
they are subject to censure.
Medical aid is reduced to a minimum and the chemists’
store is inadequate to cure the countless respiratory
diseases. More than 60 per cent of prisoners have
problems with their eyesight and problems with their
throats.
Most of the prisoners have to serve sentences of more
than 20 years in prison. But what is even more
scandalous is that approximately 10 per cent of them
are awaiting judgment, so presumed innocent.
Does this mean that the others have been tried? The
fate of most of them has been decided by faceless
judges at the end of summary trials during which the
assistance of a lawyer could not be taken for granted.
Even today, hearings take place inside the compound, in
rooms which remain inaccessible to the public.
The surroundings of the compound are under military
surveillance; even for lawyers it is difficult to enter the
compound to meet their clients, as the rules and
conditions of access are not made public.
Communication with lawyers is done in the same way as
with families, i.e. In places which neither allow actual
communication, nor the reading of documents together,
as both parties are kept separate by narrow double bars.
Most of the files were made up of evidence of "grasses"
who were hoping for reduced sentences, and unknown
witnesses identified by secret codes and very unlikely to
be subjected to a cross examination which, in theory,
would have been virtually impossible for the defence to
prepare, as access to the files is limited and assistance
to those questioning the witnesses and in some cases
the co-accused, is often prohibited.
Decree no. 005-97 which modifies the conditions of
detention of those accused of terrorism and high treason
stipulates that they are to be kept in high security
confinement for one year and that after two assessments
a year, this should be followed by more lenient conditions
of detention.
This is not the case in YANAMAYO where all the
detainees are subjected to high security confinement.
Even worse, 50 people suffer similar conditions of
detention in another compound, further South, in
CHALLAPALCA, an even remoter location, 4,800 metres
high.
Needless to say, apart from the climatic conditions, the
method of detention is hardly any better in many other
prisons in Peru.
In these prisons, the form of detention and the climate
are a little milder, although with overpopulation of some
241 per cent (high security detention for women of
CHORILLOS), medical care dispensed by a co-detainee
and medical student (PICSI and CHICLAYO prisons),
prisoners suffering from AIDS and tuberculosis are kept
isolated from the rest of the prison population, but not
from each other, inside a sick bay which AIDS patients
are only allowed to leave when they die, without ever
receiving any other treatment than an occasional dose of
anti-biotics to mitigate occasional infections.
Whilst this system was initially meant to punish alleged
members of armed groups, under the pretext of security,
and put a ‘circle of fire’ around them, it has now been
entirely legally extended to part of the prison population,
under decree no. 003-96?
In addition to that, at the Naval Base to which no one
has access, except for the Red Cross, the conditions of
imprisonment of some leaders, such as Victor POLAY, are
even harsher, with the time allowed in the courtyard
limited to half an hour, the light in the cell reduced to an
opening of just a few centimeters on the side, the shelf
only 50 cm wide, which makes normal sleep impossible
and all visits by family and relatives have been
suspended for several months.
Apart from the fact that this system and its conditions of
imprisonment constitute a violation of minimum
international standards to which Peru adheres in theory,
it constitutes a breeding ground for future violence.
Despite (or because of) the exceptional methods used,
armed rebellion has not been suppressed. There are still
pockets of violence in some mountainous areas and
forests, notably in the North-East. These areas are all
characterised by extreme poverty, social and cultural
marginalisation as well as drug-trafficking, as was shown
by the assassination of the mayor and several
inhabitants of the town of SAPOSOA in August 1998.
The lack of political mechanisms for the protection of the
rights of the individual to bring about a solution to the
violence compromises the future in the long term.
The prison situation constitutes one of the elements of
this threat. There is no doubt that countless innocent
people or victims of miscarriages of justice currently
suffer from inhuman conditions of detention.
The hope for a relaxation represented by the paradoxical
"pardons board for persons accused of terrorism or high
treason" on the grounds of "inadequate evidence, which
gives rise to assumptions that they have had no
relationship with people or activities or terrorist
organisations" must not be disappointed.
In spite of its lack of transparency and the slowness of
procedures, the fact that its mandate is limited in time
and the inadequacy of its powers (which should be
extended to people sentenced to extremely long
sentences and to people, sometimes entire village
communities who, due to search warrants or orders, are
reduced to living in secret places and subject to all kinds
of blackmail) it is currently the only alternative to the
appalling injustice.
In addition to the restoration of democratic institutions at
present limited in their competence or suspended in their
operation (Constitutional Court, Supreme Council of
Magistrates, Academy of Magistrates, etc.) the
restoration of a culture of reconciliation and respect for
human rights constitutes the key to a lasting peace.
This culture of reconciliation suggests that the Peruvian
government should renounce the headlong rush into the
manipulation of institutions, the use of extremely harsh
methods of repression prejudicial to the rights of the
individual and that it should put in place peaceful
mechanisms to put an end to the violence the country
has experienced over the last few years.