Criminal Acts.

13.Nov.2009

Garcé reported “criminal act“ in Las Rosas

Parliamentary commissioner, Álvaro Garcé, qualified the death of two prisoners in Las Rosas as a “criminal act”. They were, according to a report, shot from a distance and from the other side of the prison bars.

Minister Jorge Bruni attended a follow up commission on Wednesday to hear the report made by Alvaro Garcé, concerning the death of two prisoners in the jail Las Rosas, which happened during the mutiny that took place at the end of October.

According to the report the deaths have “direct relation” with “procedure issues”. In this sense it points out the contradictory information that was presented about how the mutiny began.

“While prisoners accuse the police of aggression, the police assure that everything started with a surprise ambush on three guards who opened the door to sector 0 at around 23.00 on 21st October, after a prisoner insisted that he needed medical help”.

The report informed that they “are sure” that the consumption of drugs was “determining” for the events. It also discarded the organization of a massive prison break, explaining that the fact that they had tried to block two of the three entrances made the operation seem more like a taking of the prison than a prison break. The report also pointed out that “lethal weapons” were used inside the prison in “explicitly prohibited conditions”

Garcé revealed that the majority of the police officers tried to run out when the revolt started and he added that the jail didn’t have the tools to control the situation and could only confront it for a few minutes. This situation, he claimed, “makes it practically impossible to have a rational, proportional and progressive response to the matter”.

Regarding the murder of Garracini Pereira, The parliamentary commissioner assured that it was “a criminal act”: “the shot was produced from a short distance, through the peephole of the entrance door to sector 0 (which was closed), from outside and with a gun similar to that used by the police. The prisoner received the impact of the bullet in his head when he was trying to put up a mattress for protection. At that point the prisoners were convinced that it was non lethal ammunition.”

In reference to the murder of Dutra Quiroga, Garcé assured that he was “mortally wounded in the access hall to sectors 3 and 4, by a shot that was made from a short distance.”

The commissioner highlighted the “transparency with which the Police force in Maldonado acted, making interrogations and investigations easier. We also recognize the cooperation of the prison authorities, which helped us do our jobs better”.