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The following article is taken from FREEDOM and is also available from
FREEDOM INTERNATTIONAL NEWS (see signature)
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                          VENEZUELA

                      = 'only eight so far' =

     Sabaneta - which holds the record in Venezuela for
     penal violence - is in the town of Maracaibo in the
     petrol state of Zulia which in turn holds a record:
     the richest state in the country.

     In 1958, when the prison was built, it was to be a tribute to the
     re-establishment of democracy - Western style. On the 3rd January
     1994 a massacre occured in the prison instead. At least 106 were
     killed in rival feuding between gangs of inmates. The warders
     wasted four hours before giving the alarm after a fire -
     generously fuelled by petrol - was started. Indeed a journalist
     with the TV channel Venevision claimed that the National Guard
     sent journalists away claiming, 'the inmates were simply burning
     some rubbish'.

     The new govenor Giancarlo Di Martino has rolled up his sleeves
     and is intent on getting to the heart of the problems the prison
     faces: 'we have repainted the building and improved the
     lighting'.

     Perhaps this is indeed why murders within the prison walls have
     gone down from 79 murders in 1993 to 'only eight so far' in 1996.
     However, 1993 was something of what we might call a bad year with
     600 deaths and 6,000 injuries in Venezuelas prisons. 1995 halved
     the death rate... but it was still half.

     Who can be surprised when at Sabaneta 2,500 are in a prison built
     for 800 according to figures given by the National Guard or 3,000
     if you choose to believe the Ministry of Justice.

     The law demands, in Venezuela, that inmates should go to trial
     within 8 months of arrest - bad enough. The reality is worse.
     Again, according to Mr Di Martino, 70% of inmates at Sabaneta are
     awaiting trial of whom he estimates 15% are for ID papers
     irregularities and the like. Many are arrested under the
     'Vagabond Law' which allows imprisonment without trial of those
     with neither work nor accommodation for up to five years. Thus a
     national prison population of some 25,000 includes about a third
     who await trial and they are incarcerated in prisons that were
     built to house only 15,000.

     A bad situation and perhaps it is worse for the Guajiro indians
     who have the misfortune to end up here and who are a hate target
     for warders and inmates alike. For this reason they are relocated
     to an 'education' centre which isolates them from outside
     contact. However, some have managed to get word out beyond the
     walls. One said, 'it's worse when a guardia is shot. They come
     and take our food and smash our TVs and air conditioning
     systems.' Another speaking of a fellow inmate claimed he has been
     ill for nine months but had received no medical treatment, 'You
     must get medical treatment from outside the prison and even if
     you can afford it you still have to pay the warders to let it
     in'. A third warned, 'our situation is intolerable. This is the
     reason for our violence'.

     Of the 'only eight so far' this year three murders have occured
     very recently. They are again related to the internal feudings
     between gangs. There are renewed fears that Sabaneta will see
     another outbreak of violence sometime in the not so distant
     future and the rest of the Venezuelan prison system has no reason
     to presuppose immunity.

     lingvoj
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