Venezuela cell block overcrowding hits triple capacity, rights group warns


CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuela's pretrial cell blocks in 2020 were overcrowded at a level amounting to triple their capacity, a rights group warned on Thursday, criticizing unsanitary conditions in the facilities due to underfunding in the crisis-stricken country.

Some 24,218 individuals were held at the South American country's 273 preventative detention centers - which hold detainees for up to 48 hours before they are released or placed in jail - which have the capacity to host just 7,457 people, according to Magaly Huggins, research coordinator at A Window to Freedom, which advocates for prisoners' rights.

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