Jails in Chile

It barely made international headlines, but Chile was faced with a tragedy without a happy ending in the beginning of December. One of Chile’s largest and most overcrowded jails, San Miguel, caught fire due to conflict between gangs, killing 80 people. There was a great deal of panic and distress among relatives who attempted to find out the status of their loved ones, after the number of dead was released without any names. The inmates in the jail ranged in the severity of the crimes they had committed; however, the majority were first time offenders.

Despite the tragedy, in my opinion, due to his masterful control of the media, Piñera was able to use the tragedy to once again improve his image, calling the state of the prison system “ a shame” and promising reform, despite the fact that his policies of liberalization and privatization likely contributed in many ways (both directly and indirectly) to the occurrence.

The human rights of prisoners are a challenge everywhere in the world, due to limited international law and a lack of willingness to address the issues of those who have threatened society. Increasingly, greater percentages of populations are imprisoned in attempts to deal with delinquency, gang violence and the drug trade.
While nowhere near the 751 people held in prison for every 100,000 in population in the US, Chile has the highest rate of incarceration in Latin America, with 310 for every 100,000.
While it should be noted that this statistic may be higher than some countries due to a stronger rule of law in general, increasingly incarceration is being used in Chile as a solution to the problems posed by the población.

Regardless, there’s increasing evidence that incarceration is far from the only solution to deal with crime. How long will it take to create comprehensive policies that address the root causes rather than the outcomes? While it’s hard to describe them as innocent, as an international community, there is a responsibility to prevent these deaths from being in vain.

Here's a good article from global post that contextualizes the event and surrounding human rights abuses very well:
http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/chile/101214/prison-reform-fire