Peru’s highest constitutional court ruled that conditions in the country’s prisons were so deficient that they represented an “unconstitutional state of affairs.” If this state of affairs is not resolved by 2025, it would close the six prisons with the highest rates of overcrowding. The Tribunal also ruled that prisons should preferably only contain persons who had “committed serious crimes involving danger to society,” and that it was “incoherent” to lock up persons convicted of other crimes who could instead complete non-carceral penalties.
In a press release, the Tribunal said that solving overcrowding required joint collaboration between all three branches of government and the participation of society at large. The full text of the Tribunal’s decision will be published on June 4th.
Read the Constitutional Tribunal's press release here (in Spanish).
We publish information as it is reported to us. If you would like to make us aware of an inaccuracy or send us more information please email us at [email protected].
If you are a journalist interested in this story, please call the media team on +44 (0) 7749 785 932 or email [email protected]