On 25 January 2013, a
riot began at Uribana prison in
Barquisimeto
Barquisimeto (; guc, Watkisimeeta) is a city in Venezuela. It is the capital of the state of Lara and head of Iribarren Municipality. It is an important urban, industrial, commercial and transportation center of the country, recognized as the f ...
,
Venezuela
Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...
. Initial reports gave at least 50 people killed and over 120 people injured,
and by 27 January a death toll of 61 was reported.
Officials on the first day of the riot faulted media for breaking news in advance that the prison would be searched by the military.
As the riot continued into a second day,
human rights
Human rights are moral principles or normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for certain standards of hu ...
groups faulted
overcrowding and conditions in the gang-dominated prison.
Outbreak
The riot was reportedly triggered by an announcement that, in an anti-gang measure,
Venezuelan National Guard
The Bolivarian National Guard of Venezuela ( es, Guardia Nacional Bolivariana de Venezuela - GNB), is one of the four components of the National Armed Forces of Venezuela. The national guard can serve as gendarmerie, perform civil defense roles, ...
troops would be searching for weapons.
The inmates were reportedly waiting for the National Guard when they arrived.
Most injuries were from gunshot wounds.
Bodies have been described as unidentifiable due to their mutilation. Due to the mutilation, officials were charged for a violation of human rights.
Response
In a press statement on the first day of the riot, minister of penitentiary services Iris Varela laid blame on the local media for reporting the prison search ahead of time, stating that many of the deaths were a "settling of scores" among rival prison gangs.
Human rights groups blamed overcrowding and inhumane conditions, as well as poor execution and unnecessary force.
Unnamed critics of the government noted that the
Inter-American Court of Human Rights had called on president
Hugo Chávez in 2007 to relieve conditions there that put visitors, inmates, and guards at risk.
The inmates were temporarily removed as a result of two days of rioting.
See also
*
Yare prison riot
*
Carandiru massacre
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Uribana prison riot
2013 in Venezuela
2013 riots
Prison uprisings in Venezuela
Mass murder in 2013
Barquisimeto
January 2013 events in South America