They denounce serious fights between rival gangs of Algerians and Moroccans inside the Campos del Río prison

Fights between inmates with great aggressiveness, use of ‘skewers’, fear for the physical integrity of officials… It is the wave of incidents that is occurring throughout the month of January in the Campos del Río prison, according to reports from the Professional Association of Prison Officers. According to this organization, there is a serious conflict between rival gangs of prisoners of Algerian and Moroccan origin that leads to continuous fights between the inmates of the juvenile unit, those who are between 18 and 21 years old.

The first episode occurred on January 1, when a group of prisoners were fighting each other with their fists and kicks in the patio of their apartment. Despite the fact that the officials tried to quell the brawl, the inmates involved in the fight reacted aggressively.

As a result of this altercation, the officials see how the tension is increasing between the two groups of inmates, Moroccans and Algerians, which leads to a new fight ten days later. On that occasion, even other inmates had to intervene, helping to restrain the participants and prevent them from attacking public employees. From the APFP they denounce that the prison director was asked to send the participants to isolation to “guarantee the safety of the department, the officials and the inmates themselves”, but this measure was not taken and minutes later it was turned to cause another brawl.

Four days later, on January 14, and carried out by the same two sides, different mass fights followed one another, with great violence, which this time did lead to the isolation of the leaders of the groups. However, from the APFP they criticize that the measure was only maintained for one day and that it also did not serve to calm the spirits, since “in the module they know that sooner or later the isolations will be lifted.”

Thus, the escalation of tension culminated on January 16, when another brawl took place in which ‘prison spikes’ were even intervened to “cause the greatest possible damage, both to other inmates and to prison officials.” On this occasion, according to the APFP, it was necessary to mobilize almost the entire workforce that was working at that time.

From the Professional Association of Prison Officials they denounce that the management of the Campos del Río prison “has not been up to the task, making decisions that have put the physical integrity of the workers at risk.” They also demand that “forceful and definitive” measures be adopted to avoid new incidents and that “undesired consequences for professionals and interns” have to be regretted.

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