OAS acknowledges
improvement in Dominican
prisons
The Organization of
American States (OAS)
said the Dominican
Republic has respected
"the dignity" of those
imprisoned with its new
penitentiary model, the
local press reported on
Friday.
Florentin Melendez,
president of the OAS's
Inter-American Human
Rights Commission, said
the new model, being
applied in nine of the
36 prisons nationwide,
has proved "it is
possible (to respect the
dignity of inmates) if
you want to."
The Dominican Republic
has improved the
penitentiary system even
with the scarce
resources it has,
Melendez said during the
2nd Latin American and
Caribbean Penitentiary
Seminary and 1st
Regional Encounter of
Treatment Meetings.
Melendez said the new
penitentiary model is
the only route
Dominicans have to
advance toward a state
accepted by
international
organizations like the
OAS.
Melendez also mentioned
Haiti's situation, where
thousands of prisoners
live in subhuman
conditions.
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