On May 31, 2023, we were informed by the relatives of the political prisoners located in the CDP Santiago 1 subject to preventive measure of preventive detention, that seven of them had been transferred from module 1 arbitrarily, without any explanation, considering that all of them had been designated to the maximum security module 1A of the penitentiary center by order of the Guarantee Courts for being cases of “public connotation”.
In view of this situation and the uncertainty regarding their location inside the prison, we were asked to visit them legally in order to know their situation.
On Thursday, June 1, we went to the prison to corroborate the state of health and the location of the political prisoners of Santiago 1, and with great difficulty we were able to see three of the seven accused who had been transferred.
We learned that the three were in different modules, they told us that they had passed through different modules, where the prison population refused to receive them due to overcrowding issues, directly denying them access or even, in some cases, forcibly removing them from the space once they were already inside. Despite this situation we were able to confirm that they are well, whole, firm and unbending.
On June 2, we went back inside, again with difficulties to make the visit, because we were given erroneous information about their location, which led us to have a series of discussions during the 2 days with different officials, in defense of the right to defense of the detainees. On this occasion we were able to see 2 of the 7 and they told us that they are all together in module 88 of the punishments, except for one who was in another module, that again they had been taken to another module in which they were not received and for this reason they returned to the module of punishments, where the living conditions are far from respecting fundamental rights such as human dignity. We also learned that Module 1 had not undergone any restructuring, as we were informed at first, and that it was still the place destined for the prison population with a high “crime commitment score” and/or those who were charged with crimes of “public connotation” (that have been in the news), this last classification “requirement” is met by all those transferred because of the exposure they were given in the official media at the time of their arrests and their formalizations, which were broadcast on open television.
On June 3, we went back to Santiago 1 where we were able to see five of the seven transferred and they told us that five of them are still in module 88, one in module 34 together with another political prisoner who was finally transferred from transit to a definitive module, and another in module 33.
We checked their physical condition and they are well, mentally they are still firm and they make us present their demand: *that they be returned to module 1* and that they be grouped together with all the political prisoners who are serving a precautionary measure of preventive detention in Santiago 1.
The current legal situation is waiting for the different hearings of precautionary measures that were requested for these facts, and waiting for the fulfillment of what was ordered by the court of guarantee in response to the action of protection filed.
May solidarity go beyond the prison walls!
Source: Publicacion Refractario