Doing Time in Colombia May Be Quick Stint

As Colombia prepares to open its prison doors to ease overcrowding, many critics are charging that those who will benefit most from an early release program will be the nation’s most notorious criminals.

For that reason, legislation designed to relieve Colombia’s cramped prison conditions has instead raised questions about the country’s commitment to punishing drug trafficking and corruption.

The legislation passed earlier this month by the lower house of Congress would reduce sentences for nearly all inmates, including convicted drug lords and more than a dozen politicians who took their money.

By cutting prison terms 40%, the measure, which still faces a vote in the Senate, in effect would wipe out the tougher sentences ushered in earlier this year for narcotics-related crimes.

Cali cartel leaders Gilberto and Miguel Rodriguez Orejuela are among those who would benefit from the proposed law. Gilberto could be out of prison in two years under the legislation.

“This would be a step backwards in Colombia’s efforts to reform its judicial system and combat the problem of impunity,” warned U.S. State Department spokesman James P. Rubin.

Anti-drug and anti-corruption activists, infuriated by the bill’s passage in the Chamber of Representatives, have joined forces to try to persuade the Senate to exclude inmates who have committed “crimes that have damaged the morality and security of the state,” which they have said would include drug trafficking and corruption.

That wording was recommended by President Ernesto Samper’s so-called Crime Council, a group of advisors that includes the justice minister, the attorney general, the prosecutor general and the federal police chief.

They met with the president this week as opposition mounted to the lower house’s version of the proposed law. If the two chambers pass different versions, the legislation will be sent to a committee made up of members of both houses. A compromise bill would then be returned to each chamber for approval.

No one doubts that Colombia’s prisons need relief. About 42,000 prisoners are crammed into prisons with a maximum capacity of 28,000. Riots this spring in a dozen prisons called attention to the overcrowded conditions.

Among the most notorious prisons is Valledupar, where 590 inmates are crowded into facilities meant for 120. Four people were killed and 16 taken hostage when the inmates took over the prison for 11 days in April to protest conditions there.

While convicted drug barons and corrupt politicians would benefit from the legislation to ease overcrowding, they generally have not suffered from the prison conditions. After a few months in prison, many of the politicians--including campaign officials who confessed to accepting millions of dollars in drug money to finance Samper’s 1994 presidential race--are held under house arrest.

Police searches of the Rodriguez Orejuela brothers’ cells have turned up cellular telephones and fax machines. One drug trafficker recently released an album of Mexican-style ranchera music--recorded in prison.

Justice Minister Almabeatriz Rengifo said she did not ask the lower house to exempt drug traffickers and politicians from the early release provisions because that would violate the constitutional provision of equal protection under the law. Kidnappers, terrorists and dangerous criminals, however, were excluded.

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Proposals of Early Release Program

* Reduce sentences by 40%

* Reduce sentences two days for every three days of work or study.

* Allow prisoners sentenced to fewer than four years to perform community service, enabling them to spend time away from prison.

* Allow prisoners who have performed 40% of their sentences to have leaves of up to two weeks.

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Colombia’s Inmate Population (In thousands)