There are 54 prisons in Bolivia which incarcerated 16,613 people .
Approximately 70% of prisoners have yet to receive their sentences, and are either awaiting trial, or presently on trial.
The prisons are managed by the Penitentiary Regime Directorate ( es, Dirección de Régimen Penintenciario). There are 17 prisons in
departmental capital cities (including their metropolitan regions) and 36 provincial prisons. The Defensor del Pueblo consider pre-trial detainees as people deprived of their right to liberty.
The prison population is growing rapidly; it was previously around 8,700 people as of 2010. Overcrowding is at a serious level, with the total prison population at three times the capacity of the prisons.
An investigative survey by the Defensor del Pueblo of 20 rural prisons found that they lack the basic infrastructure necessary to function humanely.
Due to the overcrowding of prisons in Bolivia and as part of a program that aims to spread literacy, inmates have now access to a small library where they can read books to reduce their jail time.
Urban prisons include
San Pedro Prison
San Pedro prison or El penal de San Pedro (Saint Peter's Prison) is the largest prison in La Paz, Bolivia and is renowned for being a society within itself. Significantly different from most correctional facilities, inmates at San Pedro have jobs ...
and
Chonchocoro Prison in La Paz, and
San Sebastian Prison in
Cochabamba
Cochabamba ( ay, Quchapampa; qu, Quchapampa) is a city and municipality in central Bolivia in a valley in the Andes mountain range. It is the capital of the Cochabamba Department and the fourth largest city in Bolivia, with a population of 630 ...
and Palmasola Prison in Santa Cruz.
References
External links
Hacinómetro(Overcrowding-meter), interactive map of Bolivia's prison population
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