There are 54 prisons in Bolivia which incarcerated 16,613 people as of March 2017.[1] Approximately 70% of prisoners have yet to receive their sentences, and are either awaiting trial, or presently on trial.[1]

The prisons are managed by the Penitentiary Regime Directorate (Spanish: Dirección de Régimen Penintenciario). There are 17 prisons in departmental capital cities (including their metropolitan regions) and 36 provincial prisons. The Defensor del Pueblo consider pre-trial detainees as people deprived of their right to liberty.[2] The prison population is growing rapidly; it was previously around 8,700 people as of 2010. Overcrowding is at a serious level, with the total prison population at three times the capacity of the prisons.[2] An investigative survey by the Defensor del Pueblo of 20 rural prisons found that they lack the basic infrastructure necessary to function humanely.[2] Due to the overcrowding of prisons in Bolivia and as part of a program that aims to spread literacy, inmates have now access to a small library where they can read books to reduce their jail time.[3]

Urban prisons include San Pedro Prison and Chonchocoro Prison in La Paz, and San Sebastian Prison in Cochabamba and Palmasola Prison in Santa Cruz.

Prison City Department Date founded[4]
San Pedro Prison La Paz La Paz 1895
Chonchocoro Prison La Paz La Paz 1992
Miraflores Women's Prison La Paz La Paz 1997
Obrajes Women's Prison La Paz La Paz 1957
Qalauma Juvenile Center Viacha La Paz 2011
San Sebastian Prison Cochabamba Cochabamba 1935
San Antonio Prison Cochabamba Cochabamba 1988
El Abra Cochabamba Cochabamba 1999
San Pablo Prison (Quillacollo) Quillacollo Cochabamba
San Pedro Prison (Sacaba) Sacaba Cochabamba
Palmasola Prison Santa Cruz de la Sierra Santa Cruz 1989
Villa Busch prison Cobija Pando 2002
Mocoví Prison Trinidad Beni 1994
Morros Blancos Prison Tarija Tarija 1990
San Roque Sucre Chuquisaca 1900
Cantumarca Potosí Potosí 2001
San Pedro Prison (Oruro) Oruro Oruro 1940

Prisoners' rights

This section is an excerpt from Human rights in Bolivia § Prisoners' rights.[edit]
Bolivian prisons are overcrowded, dilapidated, and lawless, and food supplies and medical care are almost invariably insufficient. Generally, prison officials only control the “outer security perimeter” of these institutions, while the interior is under the control of prisoners themselves, with inmates directing gang activity from behind bars. There is ample violence in Bolivian prisons involving both prisoners and prison officials, and corruption on the part of wardens and guards is widespread. Well-off inmates can arrange for improved living conditions, more liberal visiting rules, shorter prison terms, and transfer to better prisons. Some prisoners have been known to suffer from diseases such as tuberculosis. Prisoners are routinely able to obtain drugs and alcohol, and in some cases children are used as drug couriers. Juvenile offenders are often imprisoned alongside adults, and in at least one prison men and women are confined together as well. Under Bolivian law, spouses as well as children up to age six are permitted to live with a parent in prison, but in practice children up to 12 years old do so. Prisoners have the right to complain about abuses, but they rarely dare to do so for fear of retaliation.[5]

References

  1. 1 2 "Justicia informa que presos en cárceles suman 16.613, la cantidad más elevada hasta la fecha". Agencia de Noticias Fides. 14 November 2017. Retrieved 2017-11-14.
  2. 1 2 3 "Cerca del 75% de los internos de las cárceles no tiene sentiencia". La Razón. La Paz. 20 September 2010. pp. A4-6.
  3. ↑ Machicao, Monica (2022-05-03). "Pages for pardons? In Bolivia, inmates can cut jail time by reading". Reuters. Retrieved 2022-05-03.
  4. ↑ "16 cárceles de 19 que hay en el país soportan el hacinamiento". Página Siete. 11 June 2017. Retrieved 2017-11-14.
  5. ↑ "2010 Human Rights Report: Bolivia".
  • Hacinómetro (Overcrowding-meter), interactive map of Bolivia's prison population


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