National Survey of Imprisoned Population (ENPOL): statistical penitentiary reference in Latin America and the Caribbean

On July 24, the Deputy General Directorate of National Surveys of Government, Public Safety and Justice of the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI) shared its experience in the design and implementation of the National Survey of Imprisoned Population (ENPOL) with the UNODC-INEGI Center of Excellence (CoE) and Luis Vial, expert of the penitentiary area of the Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT) of the National Mechanism for the Prevention of Torture (MNPT) of Chile.

This meeting was held due to the CPT’s interest in elaborating by 2024 an instrument for the collection of statistical information on persons deprived of liberty in Chile, with special emphasis on their treatment, victimization, security and corruption.

On behalf of INEGI, Mario Santillana, Deputy General Director of National Surveys of Government, Public Security and Justice detailed the normative, methodological and conceptual framework with which the ENPOL was developed. Amanda Hernández, Director of National Government Surveys, shared some challenges they faced to carry out the data collection operations, even in the context of the pandemic.

Finally, Luisa Sánchez-Iriarte, Coordinator in charge of the CoE, emphasized the Center’s willingness and interest in continuing to collaborate and accompany the Committee for the Prevention of Torture in the process of building a National Survey in Chile to know the current situation of people deprived of liberty find themselves.