MEXICO CITY PRISONS HIT

MEXICO CITY " A government human rights report describes this city's
prisons as corrupt traps for horribly overcrowded and underguarded inmates,
centers that reek of raw sewage and marijuana.

"Inhuman conditions for the inmates are prevalent" in many of the capital's
prisons, according to the report issued Wednesday by the government's
National Human Rights Commission.

It accused officials of routinely violating human rights and said they
could be held criminally responsible for conditions at the prisons, "which
were found to be in a deplorable condition."

In a news conference Thursday, Mayor Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador a " whose
party has governed the city since 1997 a " said his administration was
working to overcome the admittedly bad conditions, which he blamed largely
on the fact 22,000 inmates were held in prisons meant for 14,000.

The report didn't mention conditions in other Mexican prisons, where
overcrowding also is common and which have been harshly criticized by
independent human rights groups.

But the federal report said the problems in the capital's prisons were "the
result of years of abandonment and lack of interest by the authorities
charged with administering them."

The commission's investigators said they found exposed electrical cables,
puddles of sewage and corroded roofing that prisoners pried loose as raw
material for homemade knives.

Many toilets lacked bowls or were blocked and overflowing. Trash was
scattered about uncollected. The result "created nauseating odors.

Added to that was the presence of harmful animals, principally cockroaches
and rodents, worsening the unhealthy conditions.

"Many inmates had to defecate in buckets and take baths in hallways, the
report said.

Food often is cooked in unsanitary conditions and is scooped out by hand,
it said.

The report described "extreme conditions of overcrowding," noting the
Southern Men's Prison held 4,264 inmates in an area meant for 1,422.

"About 2,800 inmates do not have a bed, so they have to sleep on the
floor," it said.

Those isolated from the main prison population for fear they might attack,
or be attacked by, other inmates often were locked away for months on end
with minimal time out of their cells, even if they had violated no rules.

Yet other inmates do surprisingly well. The commission said that both the
southern and eastern prisons had one dormitory kept far below capacity.

Those prisoners had access to tennis and squash courts, a neatly trimmed
lawn and hired services such as cooking and cleaning by other inmates.

The commission made no direct allegation, but mentioned the luxury
dormitories in the section under corruption.

The report complained that there are few classes or prison workshops to
help rehabilitate, or at least occupy, inmates.

The deputy secretary of the city government, Alejandro Encinas, also
admitted problems Thursday. He said a study on how to solve them was underway.