According to the latest 'Looking Behind the Walls' report from the Human Rights Observatory of the National University of Córdoba, cited by the Permanent Assembly for Human Rights (APDH), 'the provincial security policy has long been characterized as discriminatory, stigmatizing, abusive, violent, and repressive, but also inefficient and ineffective in reducing levels of social conflict and crime in Córdoba.' As reported by ANRed, this is what they denounced in a joint communiqué from the Río Tercero and Villa María regional chapters of the APDH: 'we repudiate the actions of the police personnel at the Bouwer prison on December 20, which led to the death of two women inmates in said prison. One of them was in solitary confinement and they also protested against the forced transfers carried out by the prison service as a mechanism of torture and punishment for the inmates, constantly transferring them to different prisons in the province, housing them in punishment cells and thus separating them from their families and loved ones, who can go for weeks without knowing the whereabouts of the person deprived of their liberty.' In this context, they recall that the Human Rights Observatory of the National University of Córdoba (UNC) has already produced three reports as part of the 'Looking Behind the Walls' program in 2013, 2014, and 2015, which analyze and document the human rights situation of people deprived of liberty and the abuses by security forces in the province of Córdoba. In this sense, they shared a passage from the observatory's latest report, which states: 'the presentation of this report (year 2015), constitutes an opportunity to take stock of the security policy implemented in Córdoba, as well as to present some lines of action that we believe can lead to reducing levels of violence and developing policies more respectful of Human Rights. The provincial security policy has long been characterized as discriminatory, stigmatizing, abusive, violent, and repressive, but also inefficient and ineffective in reducing levels of social conflict and crime in Córdoba,' the report concludes. 'To embark on a democratic government of security, we, the people of Córdoba, face great challenges,' the report cited by APDH continues. 'We must recover the political dimension of security. For this, it is necessary to be able to know, control, and govern the Provincial Police, directing it towards greater democratization and respect for the Rights and Guarantees of all citizens,' it concludes. In light of all the above and the latest painful events that occurred on December 20 at the Bouwer prison, APDH expresses: 'we condemn the abuses by the security forces in the province of Córdoba, which respond to the Public Policies of the Governor and the Minister of Security.' The aims and objectives of the Permanent Assembly for Human Rights are 'to promote the observance of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of the United Nations and the National Constitution' and 'its fundamental task is to defend people against attacks by the State,' APDH defines itself. The human rights defense organization also works in a network with the Almafuerte Memory Group, the Provincial Human Rights Working Group (Institutional Violence Commission), the Memory Commission, and the Human Rights Observatory of the National University of Córdoba. As well as the civilian control and governance of the provincial security forces is undoubtedly one of the greatest challenges we must face. Women's prison of Bouwer, in the province of Córdoba. The Permanent Assembly for Human Rights (APDH) of the Río Tercero and Villa María regional chapters repudiated 'the actions of the police personnel at the Bouwer prison on December 20, which led to the death of two women inmates in said prison.' And they denounce: 'one of them was in solitary confinement and they also protested against the forced transfers carried out by the prison service as a mechanism of torture and punishment for the inmates, constantly transferring them to different prisons in the province, housing them in punishment cells and thus separating them from their families and loved ones, who can go for weeks without knowing the whereabouts of the person deprived of their liberty.'
