INPE: “Cusco will be the first penitentiary center in Peru to implement Zero Leisure in prisons”

You can watch the interview here: Javier Llaque Moya, president of INPE, in LR+ Economía.

—Can you do business and produce from prisons?

—If you can do business from prisons. Let’s break the myths and legends. It is believed that those deprived of their liberty are in jails doing nothing. However, a good part of the inmates work. We have 90,000 prisoners, of whom more than 26,000 were working and 15,000 have just started the 2023 school year. We have more than 40,000 occupied inmates. Unfortunately, prisons do not have the full infrastructure capacity for all inmates to work and study. We have 50,000 unemployed and as a State we must reverse the overcrowding situation to generate production opportunities for those deprived of liberty in the face of society.

—Are there facilities to form a mype from prisons?

“Indeed, there is.”

—In how many prisons?

—In 68 penalties. 67 of them work in all these prisons. Of the group of 26 thousand inmates. Almost two thousand of them work for businessmen, thanks to the Productive Prisons initiativeWe have coordinated with private companies so that they go to the prisons to produce, and we do it because they know the market. In prisons we also have entrepreneurial inmates. They themselves have decided to work from some trade to help their families, from the prisons.

—What kind of production are we talking about?

—We have ceramics, woodwork, because we have carpentry workshops. Our ceramic workshops are widely distributed in a large majority of prisons. There are textile businessmen who produce in prisons and for this reason a large number of inmates benefit from these jobs. There are prisons that supply the market with merchandising, as is the case of the Cusco prison.

—Regarding Cusco, 5 years ago I was invited to learn about the work of the inmates in the Quencoro prison and I directly observed the process of production and sale of Inti Raymi panettone. Also goldsmith workshops, ceramic textiles, among others. In this sense, what else does the Cusco prison offer to inmates?

—I always comment, the Cusco prison is not a prison, it is a production center.

—Isn’t it a penalty then?

“Not for us. Because almost all of them study and work. Rumi, I’m going to give you a scoop. Today we have published our institutional policy statement that implies eight lines of action, one of which is to implement and increase the work of productive prisons. The second line is Zero leisure in prisons. This implies that those deprived of liberty, all in the future should work or study.

—Did Cusco then become a production center rather than a prison?

—The current director of the prison has rearranged all this. Today we have been informed that of the 2,880 inmates, 2,800 are working or studying. In this sense, we will soon be able to announce that Cusco will be the first penitentiary center in Peru to implement zero leisure in prisons.

—We have a message via WhatsApp from La República (+51 941 000 000). The residents of Av. Ciro Alegría, of the Villa Miraflores Urbanization, of the San Jerónimo – Cusco district, which is located in front of the entrance of the Quencoro Women’s Penitentiary Center, ask INPE to cover the ditch that is filled with garbage, clear and even with dead dogs, so that the paving works of their avenue can advance and they do not lose the green areas and they can have a garden and sidewalks, as it is originally in the urbanization plans. As an INPE authority, what would be the response for the residents of this urbanization so that they can live in harmony?

—We take note of the news and we can immediately arrange for members of the infrastructure office to come to the scene and not only inform us of what is happening, but also take the necessary measures. We will soon.

—They, the neighbors, want their gardens to be respected. That is important…

—What I must report is that the prisons have always been built far from the city, but the cities are growing and they are the ones that get closer to the penitentiary establishments. We have a norm that indicates that you should not build 200 meters around a prison, but unfortunately it is not complied with, and the municipalities authorize the residents to go closer to the prisons and I presume that this is one of the causes that has been occurring in the prison However, in order not to affect the neighbors, we will adopt the measures that are necessary without affecting the security of the penitentiary establishment.

—On the other hand, how do they show the work of the inmates in different areas?

—Through productive prisons. We have made calls to businessmen. Unfortunately due to the pandemic, some of them had to withdraw from the workshops, but now again and through your program, we call on the businessmen to return to prison. What do we offer in prisons? Premises where they can produce. The relationship between the employer and the prisoner is not a labor relationship, therefore, the burden that the employer has is much less than on the street. He has no obligation to pay vacations, for example, CTS or Social Security, because the inmate’s health is assumed by the INPE through the SIS. Therefore, he has a series of savings, which allow him to become a utility. We call on businessmen and those who are interested in the textile industry, first class ceramics are welcome. In the Castro Castro prison, for example, whose clients are the cafeterias of San Borja. Some of these products are exported, because it is taken to cafeterias abroad. For example, the ceramics that are produced in the Cusco prison are exclusively for the international market. Specifically to the European market, which means the production is of high quality.

—Is the inmate paid 100% or is there a percentage left for the institution?

—The work in prisons has an orientation. There is a 20% discount of 100% of the inmate’s salary, which we are implementing little by little, so that with that they can pay their civil compensation. Currently, the law requires that in order to be rehabilitated, you must pay your civil compensation. If you have not paid it, you cannot be rehabilitated.

—And how are you going to pay for it if you are internal, for that you have to produce?

—Exactly, if the inmate works, he has to take advantage of the time that he is deprived of liberty to pay with each month that he receives his salary. And we are withholding 20% ​​through the businessmen so that he can pay his civil compensation, in such a way that when he completes his sentence he does not have difficulties in payment. It must also be recognized that there are civil reparations that are a little high and the inmates do not have the economic capacity. If he does it month by month, year by year, when he is released he will be rehabilitated immediately.

—Tell us about business meetings. Have you participated with the inmates in these meetings?

—We have summoned the different Chambers of Commerce of the regions. I reiterate that due to the pandemic they have decreased. Last year we have made eight calls and this year we come with more force. We are going to call the businessmen with much more force to show them that we have capacity in the workshops and there are inmates eager to work because they do not want to be unemployed because they have family outside the prison, as well as children in the study stage. And someone has to assume that cost, they are willing to pay that price and face their civil compensation.

—Is the work of the private sector important, but also of the public sector, do you have an agreement to train inmates?

—We have had a meeting with Produce, and they are going to retrain the interns, they have done it before the COVID-19 pandemic. They go to the prisons to train the inmates. The Ministry of Labor also gave training to the inmates, there was a contest and the winner received a prize in kind. He is now free, he has been producing textiles in the prisons, and he works with 40 inmates and he asked us to enter another prison, because his demand is increasing. Which means that the products are of quality.

—The productive chain is important, it is not only required to show the production. Where are you promoting it?

—In Jirón Ucayali block 1, in the center of Lima, but we are going to intensify sales so that they are made online. Soon we are going to change to a much more visible place and we are also going to intensify through Produce, which also offered us a Fair where we can take the products. The mayor of Lima recently joined us in an activity to kick off the prison school year and offered us several areas where the municipality can offer the products of the inmates.

—What is the penitentiary center in which there is still resistance from the inmates for productive work?

—The special closed regime prisons are the most complicated because due to security measures we must be careful to whom we give tools or machinery. What we have to do is increase the capacity of our workshops in our classrooms because according to the 2016 census, 6 out of every 10 inmates have not completed secondary education. What does it imply? that we have a risk factor that leads to committing crimes, this factor together with another one, leads us to end up deprived of liberty. Currently 15 thousand of them are studying, we are launching Zero Illiteracy in prisons. We have located 540 illiterates nationwide and they entered the illiteracy program. 500 Minedu teachers enter the prisons to teach every day and 200 INPE teachers, we have 700 teachers in total. So, with primary, secondary and productive technical education, we are going to prepare them so that they can produce in prisons in a technical way. We are going to train them so that when they are released, they are not only trained but also have a job.

—Study frees and productive work frees. What would be your recommendation for people to buy what is produced in prisons?

—Buying a product from prisons is not only a commercial act, but a social act, because each product that is made in prisons has a chain effect that allows them to continue working in prisons, so that the person deprived of their liberty can assume his responsibilities towards his family and towards the society that he harmed, that victim must be repaired and we can do it through work.

—And what is your message to the residents of Cusco regarding what we talked about, at your request?

—We tell the neighbors to be calm. INPE will assume its responsibility.