ABSTRACT
The COVID-19 pandemic represents a particular challenge for Latin American countries, as the risks posed by the virus for prisons converged with the human rights violations that are commonplace in prisons around the region. Moreover, Colombia, Bolivia, Peru and Argentina have been unable and unwilling to tackle the effects of mass incarceration policies, such as overcrowding, that pose a serious risk for prisoners’ health. In this context, this chapter analyses the measures taken by these countries to mitigate the dangers of the pandemic, the effects they had on prisoners’ rights and the prospects for the evolution of the prison crisis.
