Mexico (ICRC) – At the request of the prosecution service of the Federal District, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has been providing
technical support for the restructuring of short-term detention facilities (known as galeras, or galleys) annexed to the prosecution service’s facilities.
In October, an ICRC
team based in Lima, Peru, visited a number of the city’s galeras to evaluation hygiene, health and living conditions, along with the fabric of the premises themselves.
The team
included a doctor specialized in prison health and living conditions.
The ICRC set out its conclusions in a confidential report submitted to the prosecution service.
The
recommendations contained in the report will serve as a reference in restructuring some 70 galeras.
The restructuring process forms part of the prosecution service’s efforts to
improve public areas and ensure decent treatment for people in temporary custody.
In an official note from the prosecution service to the ICRC’s regional delegate in November, the
service expressed its thanks for the ICRC’s support, stating that it would be implementing the recommendations of the confidential report “in strictest conformity with the international
standards so usefully pointed out”.
The ICRC visits places of detention as part of its humanitarian task of protecting the victims of armed conflict and other situations of
violence.
The aim of the visits is to preserve both the dignity and the physical and mental well-being of persons in custody.
For further information, please
contact:
Dénes Benczedi, ICRC Mexico, tel.
