"Chile debates prison changes after deadly fire" by Federico Quilodran, Associated Press / December 9, 2010
SANTIAGO, Chile— Prison overcrowding is severe throughout Latin America, where bureaucratic legal systems have been overwhelmed with suspects since countries began cracking down on drugs in the wake of a 1988 United Nations treaty that urged jail terms for even petty offenses.
Many governments haven't invested in improving prisons, where most inmates languish for months or years without trial, said Pien Metaal of the Transnational Institute, an Amsterdam-based think tank.
I can't criticize. I'm an AmeriKan citizen.
Together with the Washington Office on Latin America, a non-governmental organization based in Washington, the institute published a study Thursday on drugs and prisons in Latin American countries.
"Criminalizing personal drug use is the main cause of this overpopulation, so the solutions should start with changing the laws and having fewer people prosecuted for minor offenses," Metaal told The Associated Press in a telephone interview.
Yeah, time to legalize drugs and stop enriching western intelligence agencies and their reactionary counterparts "fighting" the "war" on drugs.
Interior Minister Rodrigo Hinzpeter on Wednesday rejected suggestions from the country's Roman Catholic Church that the government solve prison overcrowding by giving some of the prisoners amnesty....
If ever there were a time amnesty should be granted!
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Also see: Fire in Chilean prison kills at least 81
