PRESS RELEASE

 

N° 9/10

 

IACHR EXPRESSES CONCERN OVER VIOLENT DEATHS IN MEXICAN PRISON

 

Washington, D.C., January 25, 2010 — The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) deeply regrets the violent deaths of 23 inmates at the Center for Social Re-adaptation (CERESO) No. 1 in the city of Durango, and urgently calls on the State of Mexico to adopt the necessary measures to ensure that similar acts are not repeated.

 

According to information reported by various media outlets, in the morning hours of Wednesday, January 20, 2010, three fights broke out simultaneously in three different areas of the CERESO No. 1 prison. According to the authorities, the fights were the consequence of disputes among members of rival criminal factions or groups, and resulted in the deaths of 23 inmates. According to the information received by the IACHR, it is not the first time this type of killing has taken place inside a prison in the state of Durango.

 

The IACHR expresses its concern about the events that have occurred and its solidarity with the relatives of the prisoners who died violently. It recalls that State human rights obligations include the obligation to adopt all measures necessary to guarantee the life and humane treatment of persons deprived of liberty.

 

In this regard, the IACHR urgently calls on the Mexican authorities to adopt appropriate measures, including structural reforms, designed to prevent outbreaks of violence in prisons. The Commission will follow up on these initiatives by the State.

  

A principal, autonomous body of the Organization of American States (OAS), the IACHR derives its mandate from the OAS Charter and the American Convention on Human Rights. The Commission is composed of seven independent members who act in a personal capacity, without representing a particular country, and who are elected by the OAS General Assembly.

 

 

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Press contact: Santiago A. Canton - Tel. (202) 458-3694 - E-mail: [email protected]

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