I am a survivor of them in Cefereso,” exposes the lawyer and ex-inmate Ricardo Sayavedra, who now defends inmates, as in the case of Lizarraga or Israel Vallarta, who assures that evidence was fabricated to present him as guilty in 2005 in a known case of kidnapping. “The CPS has the same way of working, aimed at broke people who defend themselves: they torture them, they isolate them. This is what people deprived of liberty from different prisons, lawyers, and human rights defenders denounce, a statement that is supported by complaints, appeals, and videos to which the Anadolu Agency had access. Regardless of the scheme under which Mexican prisons are administered, both public and private, they have not guaranteed respect for human rights, in accordance with Mexican laws and international mechanisms, due to unworthy and cruel treatments that are carried out. However, the danger of labeling these centers as 'luxury hotels' leads to diverting the conversation from the reality of the prison system.”įor the hundreds of signatory organizations, this reality is constructed by “systematic torture, abuse of preventive detention, criminal recidivism, sexual violence, institutional violence against women, forgotten people from the LGBTI+ community, overcrowding, self-government, lack of decent living conditions, victims of abuse and the thousands of people who have been separated from their families by the massive transfers.” The public opinion received the president's statement as if the prisoners lived in the midst of luxury in the prisons, which raised annoyance among families and inmate organizations.Īs a result of this, hundreds of organizations wrote a statement in which they said: “We recognize the intention of the federal government to make public the information on the million-dollar contracts made to build and operate the CPS, after nine years in opacity. This statement was made as a result of the contracts that were signed since the administration of former President Felipe Calderon as part of the Private Reintegration Centers, and which in nine years, had a cost of about $3.7 billion.

The journey to the new prison took thousands of kilometers and through the route, the same blows were repeated, carrying new emotional and financial complications to families, who now had to travel greater distances to visit their relatives.ĭespite these conditions, President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said that paying for these prisons 'is the equivalent of maintaining a five-star hotel.' 21 when they were transferred to Cefereso 12, located in Guanajuato, as part of the policy of the Government of Mexico to close the prisons run by private initiatives, also known as CPS. However, during the visit on March 14, families realized the prisoners hardly move, as well as bruises on their faces and bodies.įrom that night on, they were tortured continuously until Oct. Inside that prison, 'learn to shut up' is a mantra that circulates among the prisoners, who have already learned the penalties for speaking out. The next day, Carlos did not complain to his mother when he spoke to her on the phone, like every Friday, since the authorities tend to listen to his calls. Some of the inmates got their fingers broken and others received electric shocks to the anus. That night, when the prisoners were asleep, those men raided the cells of all the people deprived of liberty, took them out, rummaged through their belongings, and kicked their ribs and testicles. In almost two decades in prison, Carlos Lizarraga had not been beaten and tortured as much as happened on March 12, 2020, when hooded men arrived at the Federal Center for Social Readaptation, Cefereso 6, located in the southern state of Tabasco, Mexico.

Federal inmate photos