National Penitentiary Institute (Peru)
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National Penitentiary Institute Instituto Nacional Penitenciario |
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| Abbreviation | INPE |
Badge of the National Penitentiary Institute of Peru
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| Motto | Mantenimiento del Orden Publico Maintenance of Public Order |
| Agency overview | |
| Formed | 1924 |
| Legal personality | Governmental: Government agency |
| Jurisdictional structure | |
| Population | 44,800 inmates (2009) |
| General nature |
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| Operational structure | |
| Headquarters | Lima, Peru |
| Agency executive | Rubén Rodríguez Rabanal, Director General |
| Parent agency | Ministry of Justice (Peru) |
| Website | |
| inpe.gob.pe | |
The National Penitentiary Institute of Peru (Spanish: Instituto Nacional Penitenciario, INPE) is the government agency charged with incarcerating convicts and suspects charged with crimes. It is part of the Peruvian government's Ministry of Justice.
The Inspector General of Prisons was first established by Article 26 of the Penal Code of 1924. After becoming Inspector General on March 28, 1928, Dr. Bernardino León y León launched major reforms and changed the title to Director General of Prisons.
In 2009, the prison population totaled 44,800 inmates (0.15% of the national population), though the nation's prisons were built for a capacity of 22,540. 2,794 of the inmates were women. Only 17,297 of the inmates have been sentenced in court, while many of the rest are held in pretrial detention at police stations and judiciary buildings. Most pretrial detainees are held with convicted prisoners. Because of understaffing, guards leave the internal operation of large prisons, including the management of commerce, to taitas, the bosses among the inmates.
Since 2000, the International Red Cross has been working with Peruvian authorities to help control the widespread transmission of tuberculosis and HIV among the overcrowded prison population.
In 2008, Justice minister Rosario Fernández Figueroa announced a commission to evaluate and recommend a plan to privatize the prison systems under the supervision of INPE. INPE operates 56 of the country's 71 prisons, while the National Police of Peru (PNP) has jurisdiction over the rest.
In 1998, Amnesty International declared Lori Berenson a political prisoner, bringing worldwide attention to the prison system of Peru. She was sentenced to life imprisonment for treason because of her association with the Túpac Amaru Revolutionary Movement. As the conditions of her incarceration were widely reported, she was transferred from Yanamayo prison high in the Andes, to Socabaya prison, Huacariz prison, and finally Santa Mónica women's prison in Chorrillos until she was conditionally paroled in May 2010, after stating that joining the revolutionary group was a mistake. Following public outcry over her early release, her parole was revoked on August 16, 2010, and she was returned to prison with her baby son. In Peru, young children are permitted to be incarcerated with their mothers until the age of 3. Berenson was again granted conditional parole in November 2010.
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Wikipedia