[A-List] Venezuela's new Humanist Prisons

["Tony B." <tal1@xxxxxxxxx>]

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From: Tony B.
To: Tony B.
Sent: Thursday, May 01, 2008 5:53 PM
Subject: Venezuela's new Humanist Prisons


Venezuela's Justice Minister Launches New "Humanist" Prisons
April 29th 2008, by James Suggett - Venezuelanalysis.com
Mérida, April 29, 2008 (venezuelanalysis.com)-Venezuela's new "socialist" 
penitentiary system will be inaugurated by the end of this year, according 
to the Venezuelan Interior and Justice Minister Ramón Rodríguez Chacín.

As a step in this direction, the construction of Venezuela's first 
"humanist" prison, which is "one of the most modern facilities worldwide," 
was finished last week in the city of Coro, the minister reported last week.

"A large part of our effort in the jails is directed at the family," the 
minister told the press Monday, explaining that in the new system families 
of inmates will be permitted to reside nearby and participate regularly in 
the lives of prisoners who qualify for such forms of rehabilitation.

Also, the new prisons provide facilities for prisoners to set up 
cooperatives and socialist production projects in which their families may 
participate, "always following the principle that those who go to jail are 
human beings who may be rehabilitated," Chacín said.

This initiative is based on Venezuela's 1999 constitution, and is also part 
of the government's efforts at "Revision, Rectification, and Re-Advance," or 
the "three Rs," which characterize the time period since the constitutional 
reform referendum was defeated at the polls last December, the minister 
explained.

"The human beings that are serving jail time should live humanely. In this 
sense, it is necessary to change the penitentiary system," Chacín reflected.

The minister also said he sent a "rectification plan" to improve citizen 
security to President Chávez this week, which outlines the upcoming efforts 
to implement the recently decreed National Police Law.

In the spirit of this plan, the ministry has implemented a new method of 
citing homicide statistics. In the past, the number of homicide cases was 
cited, without counting the actual number of deaths, which could be several 
per case. Now, the minister said, the number of total deaths will be 
counted.

Chacín will personally meet tomorrow with the police chiefs from all 126 
state and municipal forces in Venezuela at the headquarters of the federal 
investigative police force, the DISIP, in order to explain thoroughly the 
changes mandated by the new law and formulate local work plans to implement 
the law with room for the chiefs' discretion.

"Each region is different, but the general guidelines, the policy is the 
same. [the National Police Law] gives us the authority to make demands, and 
then afterward what we do is supervise, constantly reviewing and remaining 
vigilant, that the law is being carried out," Chacín said.

This week, the Vice Ministry of Citizen Security, Tarek El-Aissami, will be 
sent to Zulia state to meet with the regional security forces and form a 
special anti-kidnapping team as a response to the recent escalation in 
ransom kidnappings there.

Also, Minister Chacín plans to create a technical commission to intervene in 
local security forces to investigate denunciations of police abuse, "human 
rights violations," and other police misconduct, as mandated by the National 
Police Law.

Lastly, the minister plans to meet with the National Guard in each region to 
identify and define the reach and functions of the new national police 
force.

Even though homicides in some states have increased in the past year, the 
Minister told the press Monday, the national total decreased from 763 to 573 
over the course of 2007.

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