Punta Peuco – where military human rights offenders enjoy privileged conditions – set to join public prison network
Inmates at an infamous high-security military prison in Chile, which houses the perpetrators of dictatorship-era human rights crimes, are set to lose their privileged conditions under plans to incorporate the prison into the public prison network.
President Gabriel Boric announced on Monday that Punta Peuco is being transformed into a regular prison to help deal with overcrowding in the penitentiary system.
A far cry from the cramped conditions in the majority of Chile’s prisons, inmates at Punta Peuco reportedly have access to ample common areas with tennis courts, barbecue facilities, a library and television room.
It has long been viewed as a symbol of the preferential treatment afforded to those convicted of human rights abuses under Gen Augusto Pinochet’s dictatorship, who are often allowed to serve their terms away from common criminals in specially designated facilities.
