Most inmates languish in notorious Dominican prison

Santo Domingo.- The main cause of the existing overcrowding in La Victoria penitentiary is the large number of prisoners in preventive condition. 58.6 percent of the total inmates in this prison have not yet been sentenced for the crimes charged to them.

According to the statistics handled by the National Directorate of Prisons, there are 7,595 prisoners registered in the Victoria prison as of February this year, even though the center has a supposed capacity for only 2,103. The country’s prison system has a population of 27,171 prisoners.

This means that the overcrowding rate of this prison compound is 261.2 percent and the occupancy level is, up to the aforementioned month, 361.2 percent. To meet the demand for the number of prisoners that the center has, it would be necessary to enable 5,492 more spaces.