Defendants and their attorneys generally have access to government-held evidence related to their cases for recent crimes, except in cases related to the human rights abuses of the period 1980-2000 and particularly with respect to those involving the Ministry of Defense. Although citizens have the right to be tried in their own language, language services for non-Spanish speakers, who comprise a substantial number of persons in the highlands and Amazon regions, were sometimes unavailable. Defendants may appeal verdicts to the superior court and then to the Supreme Court of Justice. The Constitutional Court decides cases involving such issues as habeas corpus.

Arrest procedures:

The law permits police to detain persons for investigative purposes. Persons were apprehended openly. The law requires a written judicial warrant based on sufficient evidence for an arrest unless the perpetrator of a crime is apprehended in the act. Only judges may authorize detentions. Authorities are required to arraign arrested persons within 24 hours, except in cases of terrorism, drug trafficking, or espionage, in which arraignment must take place within 30 days. In remote areas arraignment must take place as soon as practicable. Military authorities must turn over persons they detain to the police within 24 hours.

The law requires police to file a report with the Public Ministry within 24 hours after an arrest. The Public Ministry, in turn, must issue its own assessment of the legality of the police action in the arrest, and authorities respected this right effectively in practice. A law effective on December 14 permits security forces to recover the bodies of fallen soldiers and police without the presence of the Public Ministry and civilian authorities only with the ministry's permission. The law addresses concerns particularly in the emergency zones.

The time between an arrest and an appearance before a judge averaged 20 hours. Judges have 24 hours to decide whether to release a suspect or continue detention. A functioning bail system exists, but many poor defendants lacked the means to post bail. By law detainees are allowed access to a lawyer and to family members. Police may detain suspected terrorists incommunicado for 10 days. The Ministry of Justice provided indigent persons with access to an attorney at no cost, although these attorneys were often poorly trained. Several nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) worked with the ministry to improve their skills.

Lengthy pretrial detention was a problem. According to a study prepared by the Technical Secretary of the Special Commission for Integral Reform of the Justice System, 61 percent of those in prison were awaiting trial, the majority for between one and two years. The law requires release of prisoners who have been held more than 18 months without being sentenced; the period is extended to 36 months in complex cases.

On the prisons in Peru, including those for pre-trial detainees:

Prison conditions were harsh for the 44,800 inmates, of whom 2,794 were women. The National Penitentiary Institute (INPE) operated 56 of the country's 71 active prisons, and the National Police of Peru (PNP) has jurisdiction over the rest. Prisoners with money had access to cell phones, illegal drugs, and meals prepared outside the prison.

Conditions were poor to extremely harsh in facilities for prisoners who lacked funds. Overcrowding, poor sanitation, and inadequate nutrition and health care were serious problems. Inmates had intermittent access to running water, bathing facilities were inadequate, kitchen facilities were unhygienic, and prisoners slept in hallways and common areas for lack of cell space. Tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS reportedly remained at near-epidemic levels. The San Juan de Lurigancho men's prison held 9,874 prisoners in a facility designed for 3,204.

.....Conditions were especially harsh in maximum-security facilities located at high altitudes. The high-security prison in the jungle area of Iquitos was in poor condition and was under renovation. During the year the PNP transferred responsibility for operating the facility to INPE.

Prison guards and fellow inmates reportedly abused prisoners. There were deaths of inmates in prisons, most attributed to fellow inmates, but some were due to negligence by guards. Guards received little or no training or supervision. Corruption was a serious problem, and some guards cooperated with criminal bosses who oversaw the smuggling of guns and drugs into prisons.

By December authorities had sentenced only 17,297 of the 44,800 persons held in the country's detention facilities. Authorities held detainees temporarily in pretrial detention centers located at police stations, judiciary buildings, and the Ministry of Justice. In most cases authorities held pretrial detainees with convicted prisoners.

The government permitted prison visits by independent human rights observers. The International Committee of the Red Cross made 44 unannounced visits in accordance with its standard modalities to inmates in 27 prisons and detention centers.

Joran Van der Sloot is being brought by motor vehicle to Lima, an 18 hour ride. Authorities in Peru said all their planes were tied up by the meeting of the General Assembly of the Organization of American States, which is being held in Lima, and they thought a commercial flight would have security problems.

Among the toughest: Lurigancho Prison (photos here.)

Lurigancho Prison in Peru was built for 3600 inmates but now houses nearly 10,000, with only 100 unarmed guards

On Sunday, Hillary Clinton heads to Peru, Ecuador, Colombia and Barbados. Since Joran is not American, I doubt she'll stop in to see him.

To be continued, when we learn Joran's final destination.