Prisons in Bolivia
There are 53 prisons in Bolivia which incarcerate around 8,700 people as of 2010. The prisons are managed by the Penitentiary Regime Directorate (Spanish: Dirección de Régimen Penintenciario). There are 17 prisons in departmental capital cities and 36 provincial prisons. According to the Defensor del Pueblo and a source in the Directorate, approximately three-quarters of prisoners have yet to receive their sentences, and are either awaiting trial, or presently on trial; the Defensor del Pueblo considers these people deprived of their right to liberty.[1] Overcrowding is at a serious level, with the total prison population at three times the capacity of the prisons.[1] An investigative survey by the Defensor del Pueblo of 20 rural prisons found that they lack the basic infrastructure necessary to function humanely.[1]
Urban prisons include San Pedro Prison and Chonchocoro Prison in La Paz, and San Sebastian Prison in Cochabamba and Palmasola Prison in Santa Cruz.