El sistema carcelario de Uruguay tiene un estado crítico desde hace años. Los informes sobre lo que ocurre dentro de las cárceles generan alarmas: allí más del 40% de los presos no tiene acceso a medicamentos, asistencia ni posibilidades de rehabilitación. Y, además, sufren un “trato cruel, inhumano y degradante”, como lo definió el ex comisionado para el sistema carcelario Juan Miguel Petit. Describió que en la prisión hay un “estado inconstitucional”.

Con este marco crítico de fondo, el gobierno de Yamandú Orsi prepara una reforma para el Instituto Nacional de Rehabilitación (INR), como se le llama al organismo que gestiona las cárceles en el país.

Uno de los cambios previstos es una modificación del nombre: las cárceles pasarán a ser gestionadas por un Instituto Nacional de Reinserción, si es que se aprueba el proyecto de ley presentado por el ministro del Interior, Carlos Negro, a la bancada oficialista.

“El instituto que se propone crear tendrá como competencia el cumplimiento de las medidas o penas privativas de libertad o alternativas, el diseño, implementación y control de las políticas y programas de reinserción social, la organización y gestión del sistema penitenciario y la vigilancia y control de las unidades penitenciarias”, dice la exposición de motivos del proyecto de ley, informado por La Diaria.

Esta propuesta surge como una respuesta a la “crisis estructural” del sistema penitenciario del país, reconoce el Ministerio del Interior en el texto. Y luego detalla las características que tiene: “Niveles inaceptables de hacinamiento, condiciones edilicias deficitarias, dificultades para el ejercicio de derechos y acceso a programas de tratamiento por parte de la población encarcelada, carencias de recursos humanos y materiales, así como debilidad extrema del sistema de medidas alternativas”.

Una de las explicaciones del gobierno uruguayo es que las dificultades “están fuertemente asociadas al incremento constante de la población privada de libertad”. Esta cantidad en 2025 volvió a romper su récord histórico y consolidó “la posición de liderazgo en América del Sur y en el mundo, con 477 personas privadas de libertad cada 100.000 habitantes”.

El texto menciona otros datos que a las autoridades le genera alarma: solo el 17% de los privados de libertad accede a oportunidades adecuadas de integración social, mientras casi la mitad (46%) está sometida a los tratos crueles, inhumanos y degradantes, tal como reflejó Petit en su informe.

“La evidencia muestra que los sistemas penitenciarios colapsados no solo no logran operar como mecanismos eficaces para combatir el delito, sino que incluso pueden actuar reforzando identidades y hábitos delictivos, así como consolidar grupos criminales”, agrega la exposición de motivos del proyecto de ley.

Además, el texto menciona que en los últimos años hubo “propuestas innovadoras” para revertir esta crisis, pero no tuvieron éxito. “No han logrado transformar radicalmente las condiciones de vida de la mayor parte de la población sujeta a sanciones penales, ni los resultados obtenidos a partir de la intervención estatal”.

El proyecto ahora será enviado a los sindicatos que están involucrados con la gestión diaria del Instituto Nacional de Rehabilitación, así como a la Organización de Funcionarios Civiles Penitenciarios. En el oficialismo tienen previsto que, durante el tratamiento parlamentario del proyecto, se incorporan cambios a la propuesta original.

El Ministerio del Interior define que el proyecto de ley presentado es “un paso fundamental para avanzar en el proceso de reforma penitenciaria”.

Además, según consignó El Observador, uno de los principales objetivos de este proyecto de ley es avanzar en la autonomía del organismo y separar definitivamente la “tarea de persecución y represión del delito, de la del tratamiento de las personas sujetas a sanciones penales”. De aprobarse la propuesta, este nuevo organismo dejará de depender del Ministerio del Interior pero seguirá relacionado con el Poder Ejecutivo a través de esta cartera.

Democratic lawmakers compared Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents to Nazis and the Gestapo during a heated House Homeland Security Committee hearing Tuesday, as the agency’s acting director faced sharp questioning over enforcement tactics and accountability.

The exchange turned explosive when Rep. Dan Goldman, D-N.Y., pressed ICE acting director Todd Lyons on whether agents have been asking people on the streets to show proof of U.S. citizenship, citing reports claiming that American citizens have allegedly been questioned during immigration enforcement actions.

Goldman escalated the line of questioning by invoking historical comparisons, asking pointedly, «Is Nazi Germany one?» after Lyons acknowledged that «very nefarious regimes» had required proof of citizenship. Goldman also pressed Lyons on whether the Soviet Union employed similar tactics.

Lyons pushed back, calling the comparison inappropriate and «the wrong type of questioning,» before snapping, saying, «The Holocaust Museum is on 14th Street and Independence. If you want to go see Nazis, that’s where it is.»

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Goldman reclaimed his time and accused ICE leadership of having it «backwards,» arguing that public criticism of the agency stemmed from its own conduct.

«People are simply making valid observations about your tactics, which are un-American and outright fascist,» Goldman said. «So I have a simple suggestion. If you don’t want to be called a fascist regime or secret police, then stop acting like one.»

Goldman’s questioning followed Lyons’ own testimony earlier in the hearing, in which the ICE acting director said agents have been labeled «Gestapo or secret police» by elected officials and activists. Lyons tied that rhetoric to what he described as a sharp rise in threats and assaults against ICE personnel, saying it has endangered agents and their families.

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Immigration and Customs Enforcement acting director Todd Lyons testifies alongside U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Rodney Scott and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Director Joseph Edlow during a House Homeland Security Committee hearing on Capitol Hill on Feb. 10, 2026. (Samuel Corum/Getty Images)

Nazi references surfaced elsewhere during the hearing as well. Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., cited «Greg Bovino, who styled himself in Nazi attire,» while criticizing federal immigration operations in Minnesota and the use of masked agents during recent enforcement actions.

The hearing focused on oversight of the Department of Homeland Security and its immigration enforcement agencies amid questions about the limited use of body cameras, particularly following the fatal shootings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis last month.

U.S. Border Patrol commander Gregory Bovino was also compared to a Nazi.  (Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)

Lawmakers raised concerns about agents operating in masks or unmarked gear, whether encounters involving U.S. citizens are being adequately documented and whether the lack of body-camera footage has hindered transparency and accountability in recent use-of-force incidents.

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Under questioning, Lyons acknowledged that only a fraction of ICE agents are currently equipped with body cameras, as lawmakers pressed the agency to expand their use and release footage to the public.

Kenya will press Russia for answers after reports emerged that its citizens are being recruited to fight in Ukraine, the country’s foreign minister said.

Musalia Mudavadi told the BBC in an interview on Tuesday that the recruitment was «unacceptable and clandestine.»

He said the government has shut down illegal recruiters and would urge Moscow to sign an agreement barring the conscription of Kenyan citizens. 

Nairobi estimates that about 200 nationals have been recruited to fight for Russia, and Mudavadi explained that families have struggled to recover the bodies of loved ones killed in the conflict.

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«It is difficult because, remember, it depends on where the body has been found,» the foreign minister told the BBC. «There some have been found in Ukraine – we are also working with the government of Ukraine to try and get the remains of those people repatriated.»

In a November post on X, Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said Kyiv estimates that at least 1,436 foreign nationals from 36 African countries have been recruited to fight for Russia in its war against Ukraine, warning the true number may be higher.

Sybiha said Russia uses a range of tactics to recruit foreigners, including financial incentives, deception and coercion.

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Susan Khandasi Kuloba, whose son David Kuloba died while fighting for Russia in Ukraine, poses with portraits of him during an interview at her home in Kibera, Nairobi, Kenya, on Dec. 2, 2025. (Thomas Mukoya/Reuters)

«Signing a contract is equivalent to signing a death sentence,» he wrote. «Foreign citizens in the Russian army have a sad fate. Most of them are immediately sent to the so-called ‘meat assaults,’ where they are quickly killed.»

Mudavadi said in December that the government had received multiple emails and urgent communications from Kenyans in distress at military camps in Russia.

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Evans Khagola, cousin of Oscar Khagola, holds a printed photo sent by Oscar to his father showing him and other soldiers when they started training in Russia, photographed in Nairobi, Kenya, on Jan. 21, 2026. (Ed Ram/The Washington Post via Getty Images)

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«Several of them have reported injuries among our nationals and others stranded, following attempted recruitment into the violent conflicts,» he told the Kenya News Agency, the country’s state-run news service.

Mudavadi said the government has since tightened recruitment regulations, deregistering more than 600 non-compliant agencies and strengthening job verification through the Diaspora Placement Agency to curb exploitation.