haiti prison hell

[Africaida]

If you are a fan of that show find and rent the movie Midnight Express. Great movie from the 70's about a guy that was found guilty of drug smuggling and went to prison in Turkey. Scare you straight.
"

I saw it ! A classic

 

[sabra]

thanks for reporting, mountainannie #20

 

[Aguaita29]

generally, i agree. prison should be hell. the problem with haitian jails, as outlined in the article is that 80% of all prisoners are there on preventive terms, so to speak: they have been arrested in regards to whatever crime - regardless of their guilt - and they had no chance to even see a judge, present statement, see the evidence. sometimes they can be in such limbo for years.

which brings the main point: that the only way to get out of jail is by paying money, again - regardless of guilt.

so yeah, prison should be hell. but only for those who actually committed crimes.



you are talking about preventive jail, behind PN building. indeed, deplorable conditions, as has been reported, frequently, by local media. regular jail, fortaleza san felipe, is "new model" and is allegedly fairly decent, as far as dominican jails go. i cannot say for sure as i have only visited female "new model" jail and it was... interesting experience...

there was a series of articles in listin diario a while ago about la victoria, most notorious of dominican jails. i posted it on dr1.

I've seen "New Model" prisoners being taken for a jog in the mornings, and chanting. I also hear they take training and are involved in projects that allow them to make a profit. For instance, I was once involved in a project in which I needed to buy school desks for a donation and someone told me to buy them to from the presos who restore old shcool furniture. I have no idea if these projects are the same in every province or if they vary.

Anyway, some people do not agree with all these little considerations, like being now called "inmates", taking them out for a jog, and making their lives a little bit more comfortable. And hey, letting hem out erlier for good behavior.They think that these are criminals, and they should suffer. Plain and simple!

Now, what shocks me from the Haiti article is first, that it talks about an inmate dying of malnutrition; that's sad, and even worse, that, like you mention, these are preventive ones......and they have to wait for years to see a judge. That used to happen here before the "new code". At least that part has improved.

 

[Aguaita29]

Prisons in developing country are rarely glamorous.

Am I the only fan of Locked abroad ? ? :smoke:

I watch it! I also like that airport show....sorry don'the remember what it's called.

 

[NALs]

Some Latin American countries sent delegations to see first hand the new jail system that is in place, and expanding, in the DR. Apparently it's so much better, that the same is being applied in the rest of the region.

Haiti should consider studying the new Dominican jails and see how they can replicate them over there.

 

[NALs]

This video has English subtitles of the new jail system invented in the DR and that is now being implemented in other countries too.

[video=youtube;sNQBNzxSkyU]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sNQBNzxSkyU[/video]

 

[mountainannie]

Some Latin American countries sent delegations to see first hand the new jail system that is in place, and expanding, in the DR. Apparently it's so much better, that the same is being applied in the rest of the region.

Haiti should consider studying the new Dominican jails and see how they can replicate them over there.

I did a report on the Dominican model prison system.. was taken around the women's prison in Nayao by the head of it.. and it was really impressive.. except - perhaps for the kitchen which made me gag. The model prison system at that time had about 1/3 of the prisons in the DR inside of it.. and I think that the intention was to put about 80 or 90% of them into it.. they did not want ALL of them in,, as I understood-- wanted to keep some of them in the old system -.. What was really impressive about it all was that the recidivism rate was so amazingly low. And that is the kicker.. if they can keep that one low they will really have a system that will be worth replicating the world over .http://www.ipsnews.net/2009/07/dominican-republic-losing-freedom-but-not-dignity/

 

[mountainannie]

I did a report on the Dominican model prison system.. was taken around the women's prison in Nayao by the head of it.. and it was really impressive.. except - perhaps for the kitchen which made me gag. The model prison system at that time had about 1/3 of the prisons in the DR inside of it.. and I think that the intention was to put about 80 or 90% of them into it.. they did not want ALL of them in,, as I understood-- wanted to keep some of them in the old system -.. What was really impressive about it all was that the recidivism rate was so amazingly low. And that is the kicker.. if they can keep that one low they will really have a system that will be worth replicating the world

Just to add some things not in the story - as I had a strict 900 word count. They found that they had to train the prison guards completely from scratch- could not use any military or police - and so started a full academy out in San Cristobal at Trujillo's old palacio there - which is complete with all the old instruments of torture used there. the guards are very well paid from their entry into school and trained in human rights - there is a conduct code which is also an honor code which others report on - and so to be caught taking bribes, etc, results in expulsion.

The other interesting issue is that the system works on restorative justice - in that every effort is made to have the criminal make some sort of restitution to the victim or the victim's family - if that is possible...Then there was a serious issue with re entry as it was discovered that once released from prison, criminals were ostracized by the communities - and this was actually led primarily by the priests. So the effort had to start with the local priests - even before the criminal is to be released - the local priest is contacted and meetings are set up to discuss how he is going to re enter society.

Another point was the stress placed on education. The first requirement was that everyone who entered the prison had to learn how to read and write. This is a passionate labor of love for Dr Santana - who - as noted in the article - was the former Chancellor of UASD. He scoffed about his previous experience - saying how easy it was for the middle class children who went to University to get educations.. to get ahead.. and marveling at his prisoners... whom - I have to admit - at least in the Women's prison - he treats as his adored grand children.

Nevertheless - the model is impressive and something to be very proud of. I do hope that the DR will make more of it - More publicity - because Heaven knows the DR NEEDS good publicity - and this is one of the best things that I have seen - assuming - of course - that the numbers hold up over time.. And one would have to have some sort of independent assessment of that.

The British Embassy was very involved in getting this program off the ground - do not know if they still are - but it would be great if someone would follow up with them and get more out there in English -- because when the news from the DR only goes out in Spanish - it really does not "go out"-- ...

The office for the Model Prisons is right in Gazcue - on Casimira de Moira - near La Cadena - and they are always looking for volunteers to go into the prisons and help. It is certainly a worthwhile project.

 

[mountainannie]

This video has English subtitles of the new jail system invented in the DR and that is now being implemented in other countries too.

[video=youtube;sNQBNzxSkyU]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sNQBNzxSkyU[/video]

this is ok, Nals.. but I am really INTERESTED in the subject and OMG - 12 MINUTES??? They just go on and on and on

and do not even get the most important points across

they need to figure out how to do a tweet! They put the MOST important figure at the very end.. 2.7% recidivism? is that what they are saying? And they say that at 10:50 in the 12 minute video? talk about burying the lede

the US recidivism rate for those released under the age of 60 years old was 67% last year

 

[dv8]

yeah, i've been to najayo-mujeres too. interesting place. lots of efforts are put to educate these women, they have school classes on all levels plus a variety of "technical" courses: from baking to sewing to salon work to languages. even dancing and singing. interestingly enough, most inmates are there for serious crimes and will stay behind bars for a long time. that explains why they want to keep busy.