Risk of HIV amid squalid prison’s living conditions
As two young women arrested in Peru on suspicion of cocaine trafficking face a potential three years in prison awaiting trial, the Prisoners Abroad group warned that overcrowding is at such critical levels inmates’ face serious health dangers.
If sentenced to prison, Melissa Reid and Michaella McCollum-Connolly could face years behind bars.
“People often have to sleep on floors, in corridors, or even in the toilet areas,” said a spokesman. “The diet is extremely poor. Without being able to buy other food to supplement their diet, people are lost. Clean water is a rarity and has to be purchased, often at inflated prices.
“Because of the overcrowding, infectious diseases such as tuberculosis and HIV are constant concerns.”
Peru’s prison system is at 200% its designed capacity. Medication is not provided for chronic or critical conditions, and medical treatments are generally paid for by prisoners or their families.
Prisoners Abroad, which sends survival grants to British people held in Peru, said medical concerns and isolation make time in a Peruvian prison “hugely distressing”.
The group, which does not comment on individual cases, said the experience is particularly harrowing for inmates who do not speak the language.
Spanish is the official, and most widely spoken, language in Peru.
Ms Reid and Ms McCollum-Connolly could be held pre-charge for up to 30 days, he said, and then could spend up to three years in prison before a trial.
“If they are charged, they will be sent to prison before their trial goes ahead and we understand that the maximum period for pre-trial detention is 36 months,” said the spokesman.
“If you are charged with a drugs offence, it is our understanding that you are very unlikely to get released before your trial takes place — you’re almost ineligible for bail.
“There is the likelihood that they could end up spending 36 months in pre-trial detention.”
He added that the justice system in Peru suffers from delays, and that drug-trafficking offences are regarded as particularly serious.
With drug offence convictions, normal rules on early release do not apply.
