Prison Union Warns of Crisis as Promised Staff Hires Fail to Materialize

A commitment by Uruguay's Interior Minister, Carlos Negro, to hire 500 new officers for the National Rehabilitation Institute (INR) appears stalled, according to a prison civil servants' union. The hiring was stipulated in the five-year budget law approved last year as part of a general increase in police personnel.

However, Jonatan Perdomo, president of the Organization of Prison Civil Servants, informed lawmakers that the Ministry of Interior has not yet initiated the recruitment process. "How were the 500 positions secured? Well, in no way, because the call has not actually started," Perdomo stated during a parliamentary session discussing the government's accountability report. He noted that the process should have begun with 200 hires, but recruitment has not commenced.

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How were the 500 positions secured? Well, in no way, because the call has not actually started.

Perdomo described the situation as critical, highlighting that the current staff manages over 17,000 incarcerated individuals and approximately 10,000 individuals under alternative measures. This workload is handled by just over 1,300 civilian staff, leading the union to declare a state of emergency in the prison system. "We are currently attending to more than 17,000 people deprived of liberty, plus 10,000 alternative measures, it's an environment of about 27,000 people that we address with more than 1,300 civilians. That is why we say we are in an emergency regarding prisons, and we have been saying so for a long time," Perdomo explained.

The lack of progress on the promised reinforcement has drawn criticism from the opposition. Nationalist deputy Juan Martín Rodríguez plans to question Minister Negro about the status of the 500 positions when Negro appears before the Chamber of Deputies to defend his ministry's budget allocation for the upcoming year. The Ministry of Interior is expected to see an estimated increase of US$29.5 million through redistributions.

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We are currently attending to more than 17,000 people deprived of liberty, plus 10,000 alternative measures, it's an environment of about 27,000 people that we address with more than 1,300 civilians. That is why we say we are in an emergency regarding prisons, and we have been saying so for a long time.