Almost half of the inmates in Paraguay are held in five prisons

Asunción.- 49% of Paraguay’s prison population, which totals 19,874 people, is held in 5 of the country’s 19 penitentiary centers, revealed this Wednesday the state-owned National Mechanism for the Prevention of Torture (MNP). In a report, prepared with data from the Ministry of Justice, as of January 30, the NPM warned that 92.25% of inmates in the country live in a situation of “critical overcrowding“. The Villarrica regional penitentiary (south) reached the highest overcrowding rate in the country in January, 1,315.1%, housing 697 inmates, despite having a capacity for 53 inmates, according to standards. On the other hand, the penitentiary with the largest population is Tacumbú, located in the country’s capital, Asunción, which houses 2,128 people, representing an occupancy rate of 443.3%, despite the fact that its capacity, according to human rights standards, is 480 people.

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The population of the capital establishment represents 10.7% of the national total, the document indicates. Following this is the prison in the city of Coronel Oviedo (center), with 2,101 inmates (10.6% of the global population); the Regional Penitentiary of Concepción (north), with 1,890 inmates (9.5%); the Padre Juan A. de la Vega center, located in the city of Emboscada (center), with 1,819 people (9.2%), and the Regional Prison of Misiones (south), with 1,809 (9.1%). On the other hand, the report indicates that 61.7% of the prison population (12,269) is being processed without a final conviction, while 38.3% (7,605) has already received a sentence. Men represent 94.3% of the prison population, with 18,743 people.