In October, an ICRC team based in Lima, Peru, visited a number of the city’s galeras to evaluation hygiene, health and living conditions, along with the fabric of the premises themselves. The team included a doctor specialized in prison health and living conditions.

The ICRC set out its conclusions in a confidential report submitted to the prosecution service. The recommendations contained in the report will serve as a reference in restructuring some 70 galeras. The restructuring process forms part of the prosecution service’s efforts to improve public areas and ensure decent treatment for people in temporary custody.

In an official note from the prosecution service to the ICRC’s regional delegate in November, the service expressed its thanks for the ICRC’s support, stating that it would be implementing the recommendations of the confidential report “in strictest conformity with the international standards so usefully pointed out”.

The ICRC visits places of detention as part of its humanitarian task of protecting the victims of armed conflict and other situations of violence. The aim of the visits is to preserve both the dignity and the physical and mental well-being of persons in custody.