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Colombia The Penal System
The Penal Code of 1938, as subsequently revised,
regulated the
country's penal system. Laws were applicable to citizens
and aliens
alike who committed crimes as defined under the code.
Crimes were
classifiable as either felonies or misdemeanors and were
divided
into six categories: crimes against property, crimes
against
persons, crimes against individual liberties, sex-related
crimes,
crimes against public administration, and miscellaneous
crimes. In
1983 approximately 54 percent of all offenses were crimes
against
property; 35 percent were crimes against persons.
The maximum prison term allowable under the code was
twentyfour years. Recognized punishments were confinement in a
penitentiary, which included a mandatory one month to two
years of
solitary confinement; imprisonment, which was served at a
prison
facility less secure than the penitentiary; preventive
detention,
which mandated confinement at a minimally secure facility
where the
detainee could choose from a variety of jobs; simple
confinement,
which was comparable to internal exile; and fines. The
death
penalty, said to have long been a cause for public
opposition
during the nineteenth century, was eliminated in 1910.
In the early 1980s, the capacity of the country's
prison system
was only 12,000 prisoners, yet the size of the country's
prison
population was estimated at 30,000. Both the rising crime
rate and
the backlog of cases had contributed to the serious
overcrowding.
In July 1985, a number of important legal procedural
reforms
affected the administration of justice. Some of the
reforms were
designed to help empty the country's prisons of those
convicted of
minor offenses whose sentences were less than two years.
These
measures were believed to affect approximately 3,000
individuals
who were awaiting trial or serving out their sentences.
Preventive
detention was mandated for those convicted of minor
offenses but
who were sentenced to a minimum of two years'
incarceration. In
addition, because of the lengthy delay in hearing cases,
the
issuance of arrest warrants for individuals suspected of
minor
crimes that had a sentence of less than two years was
suspended.
The penalties were stiffened for serious crimes, however.
Persons
convicted of committing such crimes as kidnapping for
ransom,
extortion, terrorism, drug trafficking, or serious
economic crimes
remained subject to the full penalties applicable under
existing
law.
The largest maximum security penitentiary was La Picota
Prison
in Bogotá. Smaller penitentiaries were located in
Medellín,
Palmira, Ibagué, Manizales, Pamplona, Pasto, and
Barranquilla.
Prison facilities for females were maintained at Tunja and
Cuenca.
In addition, agricultural penal colonies were located at
Acacía and
in the interior jungle near Araracuara. Two additional
small prison
facilities were located in Bogotá and on Isla Gorgona.
Each
judicial district and municipality also operated its own
jail.
During the 1980s, the majority of prisoners convicted or
awaiting
trial were held at these small local facilities. The
principal
reformatories for juvenile offenders, holding youth aged
fourteen
to eighteen, were located at Bogotá and Fagua.
* * *
Resources for information related to national security
in
Colombia are diverse, yet few comprehensive accounts had
been
published by the late 1980s. The chapter on Colombia
published in
The Armed Forces of Latin America by Adrian J.
English
presents useful information on the military's history,
organization, and matériel. The sections on the Colombian
military
in Robert Wesson's The Latin American Military
Institution
and the chapter by Daniel L. Premo in Wesson's New
Military
Politics in Latin America also are helpful in
highlighting key
points in the development of the institution. Russell W.
Ramsey has
written a number of studies on Colombia's armed forces,
particularly with regard to their role in the maintenance
of
internal security.
J. Mark Ruhl's Colombia: Armed Forces and
Society is one
of the few published works dealing with the political role
of the
armed forces from a historical perspective. Richard L.
Maullin's
Soldiers, Guerrillas, and Politics in Colombia,
published in
1973, continues to be one of the most comprehensive
overviews of
the security situation. Several books authored by General
Fernando
Landazábal Reyes provide excellent background for
understanding the
Colombian armed forces' perceptions of threats to national
security. The best sources for information on Colombian
narcotics
trafficking operations as well as on developments related
to the
activities of the country's guerrilla organizations are
press
reports, articles in scholarly journals, and sundry
specialized
publications and reports issued by the United States
government.
The chapters on Colombia authored by Harvey F. Kline in
several
annual volumes of Latin America and Caribbean
Contemporary
Record also are useful in reviewing recent
developments. (For
further information and complete citations,
see
Bibliography.)
Data as of December 1988
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