At his morning press conference, President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador reported the number of inmates detected without a trial or sentence who have been in prison for 10 or more years, some of whom are innocent of the charges against them. Although the president did not provide further details, the names were published in the Diario Oficial (the gazette) on Tuesday, so the decision to initiate proceedings to release these people is firm.

The gazette reported that the Secretariat for Home Affairs issued the regulations and guidelines for the creation and operation of the permanent commitee that will follow up actions for the processing of pre-release requests of sentenced people.

It will also be in charge of detecting cases of people under preventive imprisonment and those who have been victims of torture.

The guidelines stipulate that its members must hold regular meetings every three months, or extraordinary meetings when necessary.

In December, the committee will prepare a report on the results of the follow-up of the actions carried out by the member institutions in compliance with the agreement, which must be submitted to the President of the Republic.

pgh/aph/mgt/lma