Report “Prisons in Colombia: a permanent emergency”

The Civil Society Steering Committee for Judgment T-388 of 2013 presented its VII Follow-Up Report on the "unconstitutional state of affairs" that afflicts the prison and penitentiary system. The Externado Criminal Policy Center participated in the report.

This time, the Steering Committee elected to modify the methodology and contents for preparing the VII Report because, throughout 2019, the National Government began creating and implementing different national plans to overcome the crisis.

In light of the above, in its new follow-up report, the Steering Committee opted to provide the Constitutional Court additional elements on the state of the crisis. For this, they visited nine institutions in the country between November and December 2019 and January 2020.

The report is divided into three parts. The first part consists of observations and comments on the National Government’s VII Follow-Up Report. In it, the Committee gives an analysis of the general problems existing in the Government’s monitoring and strategy.

The second part presents, as a result of their tour, a description and analysis of the findings on the confinement situation and the guarantee of fundamental rights.

Lastly, the third part presents the Steering Committee’s conclusions and recommendations regarding their findings, the current crisis, and the progress or regression to guarantee the fundamental rights of the prison population.

View the full report here.

View the report summary here.