Prison Systems in South America

Prison Systems in South America

Thesis Statement

“The overall Prison system in South American countries and the treatment of inmates is likely to perpetuate Human Rights violations.”

Introduction

The continent of South America is located in the Southern Hemisphere and includes a total of twelve countries. The countries in the continent include Bolivia, Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Brazil, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru, Guyana, Uruguay, Venezuela, Suriname and French Guiana- an overseas region of France. The region has had its history of economic downturn and issues in Governance. The overall economic, political and social conditions in South American countries are not encouraging at all. It is also home to some of the world's most notorious prisons and they hold a portion of the total population. Due to the overall economic and governance issues in the region; their prison systems are not attractive at all. Currently, they are prone to many avenues of basic human rights violations (Diullio, 1990).

South America has many notorious prisons. Due to lack of governance and minimal allocation of funds for their development, a vast majority of such prisons is marked by corruption, poor living conditions for the inmates and riots (Gilian, 2010). Due to the existence of drug mafias and their vast circulation of money; many of the prisons are controlled by gangs. A close analysis of the prisons reveals that many of them have had violent prison rights in the recent history. The prison administration seems to be aloof of the ongoing activities in their prisons and seems to be helpless in their administration.

Major Prisons in South America

Some of the most famous and notorious prisons that are currently prone to Human rights violations and worst living conditions are: Carandiru Prison (Brazil), San Pedro Prison (Bolivia) and La Picota Central Penitentiary in Columbia (Neal, 2005). The economic conditions of the region are replicated in these prisons. They are overpopulated and maintain no adequate system for the well being of its occupants. Also, there are many small prisons in other countries of South America i.e. Uraguay, Peru and Ecuador and are marked by the same issues.

Prison Systems likely to Perpetuate Human Rights Violations

According to Aeberhard (2000), South America can be marked as the region where violations of Human rights are reported on a regular basis. Hence, the prisons in its countries are affected by the general trends and practices outside prisons. One of the main reasons for their occurrence is the lack of Governmental control and law and order situations. Its countries have had a long history of dictatorial regimes and have had difficulties in running democratic setups. It led to the societal disintegration and an increased class difference which has attributed to an increase in the crime rate in the region.

Also, the economy of some of its countries runs primarily on the black money that comes from the illegal drug trade. Drug mafias and corruption in the law enforcement agencies have also contributed to the decline in prison standards and Governmental ...