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Calama court orders reopening of Ojo de Opache prison center
The Calama Guarantee Court has ordered Gendarmería de Chile to reopen the Ojo de Opache Education and Work Center (CET) and return 27 inmates to the facility. The inmates, who were serving sentences under a semi-open regime, had been transferred to the Calama Preventive Detention Center following the sudden closure of the CET.
Magistrate Mariana Chiang Muñoz ruled that the transfer was arbitrary and illegal, noting that it substantially modified the conditions of the inmates' sentences by moving them from a reintegration-focused regime to a closed prison environment without individual evaluations. The court found that while security contingencies may justify temporary transfers, Gendarmería cannot use such powers to fundamentally alter the nature of a sentence execution.
The court also dismissed Gendarmería's security concerns regarding six escapes reported during 2026, citing a lack of supporting technical reports. In addition to the return of the inmates, the ruling mandates the return of all staff members previously assigned to the Ojo de Opache center and requires the facility to continue its mission of prisoner reintegration and progression.
Entities
CET Ojo de Opache · Calama · Gendarmería de Chile · Juzgado de Garantía de Calama · Mariana Chiang Muñoz
Claims
What the coverage asserts, and how many sources carry each claim.
- [● 2 SOURCES] The court ruled that transferring inmates from a semi-open to a closed regime substantially modified their sentence execution conditions. noticias.calamaenlinea.cl · g5noticias.cl
- [● 3 SOURCES] The court ordered the return of 27 inmates to the CET Ojo de Opache facility. noticias.calamaenlinea.cl · g5noticias.cl
- [● 3 SOURCES] The Calama Guarantee Court ordered Gendarmería to reopen the Ojo de Opache Education and Work Center (CET). noticias.calamaenlinea.cl · g5noticias.cl
- [○ 1 SOURCE] The ruling ordered Gendarmería to return all officials who were working at the facility to their previous duties.
- [○ 1 SOURCE] The court dismissed Gendarmería's security arguments regarding six escapes in 2026 due to a lack of technical reports.