Argentina: Covid-19 and Detention

Police operation to halt a riot in the Las Flores Prison, in the province of Santa Fe, 24 March 2020, (https://elpais.com/sociedad/2020-03-25/cinco-muertos-en-motines-en-carceles-argentinas-durante-la-cuarentena-por-el-coronavirus.html)

Argentina’s borders have been closed to both nationals and non-nationals since 27 March 2020. On 31 March 2020, this measure was extended until 12 April 2020, through a Decree of Necessity and Urgency, with some modifications, including the possibility for nationals and residents to “gradually return to the national territory.”

There are reports indicating that authorities in parts of the country are taking exceptional measures to force migrants out of their provinces and to step up apprehensions of people in border areas. Argentina does not have dedicated immigration detention centers and does not emphasize detention in its immigration policies. Prisons are sometimes used to hold immigration detainees.

On 13 March 2020, the International Observatory for Prisons – Argentina section – wrote to the Ministry of Justice urging that measures to prevent the spread of Covid-19 within penal institutions be implemented. The letter highlighted the current lack of hygiene and food and called on the Ministry to elaborate a strategy to avoid riots and the spread of the disease. On 23 and 24 March 2020, riots broke out in several penitentiaries, leaving five prisoners dead and many more injured. Following the riots, the International Observatory for Prisons expressed its concerns as regards the situation in Buenos Aires’ prisons in a letter addressed to the Supreme Court of Buenos Aires. The letter criticizes the lack of measures to mitigate the current situation and the recourse to physical violence from part of security forces as a means to regain control.

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