Latin America studies alternatives to imprisonment

For three days, representatives from 12 Latin American countries met to study the use of alternative measures that fit in with the necessities and situations of the different countries, other than imprisonment for minor crimes.

The event was organized jointly by the Ministry of the Interior and the EL PAcCTO programme, which is financed by the European Union and managed by FIIAPP and Expertise France in conjunction with its partners, the IILA and Instituto Camões.

Legislation, procedures and methodology were some of the topics dealt with in the workshop.

Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Panama, Paraguay, Peru and Uruguay were the countries attending the meeting to find out about these alternative measures and how to make them fit their needs.

Panama is already working with this type of alternative measure, which has led to a reduction of almost 500 detainees in the past year in the Penitentiary System.

During the event, there was discussion of how complicated the topic of alternative measures is for the region due to the unwillingness of the local population. The closing speech for the workshop was given by Deputy Minister of the Interior Gina Luciani de Sossa, who emphasized that fighting organized crime is one of the big challenges not only for the region but for the world.