Buenos Aires police stations barred from new detainees over inhuman conditions

The Provincial Commission for Memory, acting as a local torture‑prevention mechanism, filed a collective habeas corpus on behalf of women detained in three closed police stations in Buenos Aires Province. The Criminal Court No. 1 in Quilmes approved the filing, finding deteriorated detention conditions, and ordered that no new persons be admitted to the third precinct of Berazategui, the sixth precinct of Quilmes‑Ezpeleta and the third precinct of Florencio Varela.

Judges Fernando Celesia, Analía Reyes and María Cecilia Maffei also mandated the urgent transfer of the women currently housed in those facilities to penitentiary units or municipal jails. Inspections revealed severe overcrowding – seven women confined in a space designed for four – hazardous fire‑safety shortcomings, lack of ventilation, constant confinement in tiny cells and the presence of flammable materials. The Berazategui station was already under judicial closure, while the Quilmes station had an administrative shutdown.

The court’s decision also instructed relevant ministries and judicial bodies to take further measures to address the violations of basic human‑rights and gender‑specific standards in these detention sites.