La Modelo
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La Modelo (
On 27 April 2000, over 100 prisoners were murdered in fighting. After the killings and the publicity it created the government began to change the prison regime. Many of the private shops were shut down and security was stepped up, although inmates still have access to arms.[1]
The battles of April 2000
In mid-February 2000, visits to La Modelo were suspended. In March a peace pact was signed that was broken when the following April the dismembered corpse of paramilitary leader Carlos Alberto León, an inmate of patio two, was found.
While the
La battle started at 14:40,[2] when members of the self-defense groups of yards 3 and 5 learned of the shooting death of Yema Ospina Flórez, a relative of one of the members of "Los Priscos", a criminal gang from the time of Pablo Escobar, leader of the Cartel de Medellín who disappeared in 1993.[4] Ospina had been infiltrated by the paramilitaries in yard 4, so that he would report who the bosses were in that yard. Most of the inmates in this yard were accused of social crimes (kidnapping, rape and theft, among others).[2]
Approximately 800 men under the command of Jhon Jairo Velásquez, alias "Popeye", former lieutenant of Pablo Escobar. When Popeye's men found out about Ospina's intention, they executed him.[2] The event triggered the operation led by the paramilitary chief of patio 5 known as Cadavid. Faced with the impotence of the prison guards and knocking down walls and bars with the use of grenades, the paramilitaries entered yard 4.[2] Wearing black armbands and the initials AUC, they demanded that Popeye's protégés surrender. Only 42 did, those who refused were shot.[2]
The
Additionally, 17 inmates held in patio 4 were declared missing. According to the Committee for Solidarity with Political Prisoners, there were indications that the prisoners used tunnels and sewers to hide the bodies of the disappeared.[6] However, both INPEC and the Cuerpo Técnico de Investigación (CTI) of the prosecution service and the police denied the existence of such graves.[6]
Most of the victims were wounded with a firearm and some with a knife. Their ages range from 23 to 43 years old.[2]
Other incidents
In 2016, the dismembered remains of at least 100 prisoners and visitors were found in drain pipes at the jail.[7]
On 21 March 2020, at least 23 prisoners were killed and 83 injured during a riot which erupted amid fears over spreading of SARS-CoV-2 through prison walls during the COVID-19 pandemic.[8] Prisoners across the country were protesting against overcrowding as well as poor health services ever since the outbreak of COVID-19.[9]
See also
References
- ^ "Horror en La Modelo". eltiempo. 21 March 2021. Retrieved 21 March 2021.
- ^ a b c d e f g h "32 reclusos muertos en La Modelo". El Tiempo. 29 April 2000. Retrieved 30 December 2013.
- ^ "Día del periodista". El Espectador. 8 February 2012. Archived from the original on 30 December 2013. Retrieved 30 December 2013.
- ^ "La noche negra de La Modelo". El Tiempo. 30 April 2000. Retrieved 30 December 2013.
- ^ Semana. 5 June 2000. Retrieved 30 December 2013.
- ^ a b "Desapariciones en La Modelo". El Tiempo. 10 July 2001. Retrieved 30 December 2013.
- ^ "Colombian prison drain pipes yield over 100 dismembered corpses". Japan Times. 18 February 2016. Retrieved 18 February 2016.
- ^ "Colombia coronavirus: 23 killed in prison riot". Al Jazeera. 23 March 2020. Retrieved 23 March 2020.
- Vera, Amir (28 March 2020). "23 dead in prison riot in Colombia prompted by coronavirus fears, Ministry of Justice says". CNN. Retrieved 23 March 2020. - ^ "At least 23 killed in Colombia prison unrest". BBC News. 23 March 2020. Retrieved 23 March 2020.
External links
- "Human Rights Abuses Against Prisoners". Human Rights Watch. 2001. Archived from the original on 26 January 2002. Retrieved 2 July 2013.
4°38′9.4734″N 74°6′27.8382″W / 4.635964833°N 74.107732833°W