Open fronts in the protection of the rights of prisoners

Abstract

the current drive to intensify the penalty of deprivation of liberty (through its full enforcement, the increase of the maximum prison term or the introduction of permanent reviewable imprisonment) contrasts with the constitutional will that this penalty should be oriented towards re-education and re-socialization, which is based on the dignity of the prisoner and the enforcement of his fundamental rights. This article aims to examine precisely what progress has been made in this area and what fronts remain open. Among the first is the right of persons who have been held in pretrial detention as part of a criminal investigation and have been finally acquitted or not prosecuted to be compensated for the damages incurred. In terms of open challenges, we examine the lack of involvement of prisoners in electoral processes and the need for the Constitutional Court to reverse its doctrine denying that the refusal of penitentiary institutions to bring the prisoner to a penitentiary establishment that allows him to maintain contact with his loved ones violates his family privacy. The aim is to prove, in short, that respect for the fundamental rights of prisoners requires varying certain practices, intensifying certain behaviors and analyzing old problems with fresh eyes.