Prisons – Panama’s greatest shame

Panamanian prisons are our greatest shame. Although they are intended to be the place where people who have committed crimes serve their sentences, the law also mandates that they be rehabilitation centers, so that, once the sentence is paid, they can reintegrate into society. However, our prisons are universities of crime, in which little or nothing is done for the resocialization of inmates. But, in addition to being a place that does not provide an opportunity for rehabilitation, the Ombudsman’s Office now paints an even more Dantesque picture for us. Describes, in a recent visit made by some of its officials to the La Joya Penitentiary Center, the lack of minimum conditions for inmates to live in that place, violating local and international provisions on the treatment that prisoners should receive. How can we reduce crime, if our prisons are manufacturers of sociopaths, gang members, murderers, and criminals of all kinds? Falling into one of our prisons is guaranteeing a life of criminal activity from which it is difficult to get out. And the Government and society seem indifferent to such an inhuman situation. – LA PRENSA,  Feb. 27.