At least ten prisoners have died in clashes between several gangs in a pre-trial detention center in Zulia state, in northwest Venezuela, a Venezuelan NGO defending the rights of prisoners said on Tuesday.
Guerra de bandas en el Retén de Cabimas en el estado Zulia ... Al menos 10 reclusos fallecidos ... # UVLObserva # 31dic2019 pic.twitter.com/fKWzYlu3bX
- Ventana a Libertad (@ventanalibertad) December 31, 2019According to the NGO Una ventana a la libertad (A window on freedom), four grenades exploded Monday evening during these clashes and the detainees torched one of the buildings of the center which is run by the police of Zulia, a border state from Colombia. Residents of the neighborhood said they heard "several detonations" from the detention center late Monday afternoon, Una ventana said.
Dilapidated prisons denounced by NGOs
Venezuelan authorities have not made any assessment of the clashes, but the state governor, the Chavista Omar Prieto, assured Monday that he was preparing the "final closure" of this center. Unhealthy, overcrowded and poorly monitored by underpaid guards, Venezuelan prisons are regularly singled out by human rights defenders. And cases of violence are frequent in pre-trial detention centers where, according to the Criminal Code, prisoners are not supposed to stay more than 48 hours.
Last May, at least 29 prisoners died in clashes with law enforcement in an overcrowded detention center in Acarigua, in the state of Portuguesa, in western Venezuela. During the clashes, 19 police officers were injured. According to Una ventana a la libertad, there are 500 such centers in the country, which accommodate a total of 55,000 prisoners with a capacity of barely 8,000 places.
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