An inmate was killed and two others were injured Saturday inside a Honduran prison after guards opened fire to prevent them from escaping, authorities said.

 

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Edited by |Alexander Yaxina

 

South America  section -  CJ journalist

 

Tegucigalpa – July,16,2023

 

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The National Prison Institute reported that a 42-year-old prisoner was killed following an ”escape attempt“. He was serving a 22-year prison sentence for murder.

The incidents took place in Danley prison, 70 km east of the capital Tegucigalpa.

This brought to mind what happened last June, when clashes between rival gangs at The Tamara women's prison in central Honduras resulted in the death of about 46 people, some shot and others burned when a fire broke out in one of the wings of the prison.

According to the authorities, despite the measures taken to take control of the country's 26 prisons where about 20 thousand people are held, imprisoned criminal gang leaders continue to issue orders for crimes and misdemeanors from their cells.

The country's President Xiomara Castro has vowed to tackle criminal gangs, and last year temporarily lifted some of the constitutional requirements, enabling police to arrest people without warrants.

Over the past twenty years, more than a thousand prisoners have been killed in Honduran prisons, according to the Commissioner for human rights of this Central American country.

The incident is considered one of the most violent prison cases in the country's recent history, but it is not the first time the country has witnessed such incidents. In 2019, 18 prisoners were killed after a brawl broke out in a correctional facility.

The most catastrophic incident was in 2012, when a fire broke out in the Comayagua prison and 357 people died, preceded by a fire in the prison ”San Pedro Sula“ in 2004, in which 107 prisoners were killed. A year before this incident, the prison ”La Ceiba“ witnessed a fire that caused the death of 68 prisoners.

The prisons of Honduras, which are almost completely ruled by gangs, have tens of thousands of inmates and they are divided into three classes, ”Maras“ Maras are active gang members, ”pesetas“ Pesetas are former gang members, ”paisas“ paisas are those who did not join a gang before entering prison.

Honduras is considered a transit country for Colombian cocaine and other types of drugs to the United States.

 

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