Argentina’s prison system is swelling beyond capacity, recording more deaths and deepening structural failings despite rising public spending, according to a stark new report from the PROCUVIN institutional violence prosecutor’s Office.
The Procuraduría de Violencia Institucional watchdog warned that overcrowding, worsening detention conditions and alleged corruption in procurement are compounding what it describes as an escalating crisis in the Penitentiary Service during the second year of President Javier Milei’s government.
The federal prison population rose four percent year-on-year in 2025, reaching 12,166 detainees in December. The sharpest increase was at Santa Fe’s Unit 36, which added 334 inmates compared with December 2024. Other notable rises were recorded at Federal Penitentiary Complex V in Neuquén, which took in 92 additional detainees; CPF VI in Mendoza, with 65; and the Devoto prison in Buenos Aires City, where the population climbed from 1,500 to 1,525.
Nearly two-thirds of those held in the Federal Penitentiary Service are serving sentences rather than awaiting trial. The number of convicted prisoners increased from 6,949 in December 2024 to 7,680 a year later, accounting for 63.1 percent of the total.
While the proportion of pre-trial detainees fell to 36.9 percent, there were still 4,485 people behind bars without a final conviction in Argentina.
The female and trans prison population has grown at a faster rate than the system as a whole. By the end of 2025, 949 women and trans detainees were in federal custody, representing 8.1 percent of the total. The number of women deprived of liberty rose 11.3 percent year-on-year.
Particularly striking is the rise in vulnerable cases: in December, authorities counted 10 pregnant women and 16 women living in prison with their children, the highest figures in recent years. Almost two-thirds of them are on remand.
Argentina’s prison population, however, remains overwhelmingly young and male: 93.5 percent of youths in prison are men. Nearly seven in 10 inmates are aged between 21 and 39, with the largest concentration in the 30-39 bracket. Foreign nationals account for 16 percent of prisoners – 1,942 people – down from 20.6 percent in 2020.
Overcrowding
Overcrowding continues to be one of the main structural problems. According to the National Commission for the Prevention of Torture, Argentina’s prisons nationwide are operating at 130.2 percent of capacity – 130 people held for every 100 places available.
Over the past decade, the incarcerated population has surged 67.7 percent, with dramatic increases in the provinces of Santa Fe (244.8 percent), Santiago del Estero (138.2 percent) and Córdoba (116.6 percent). Even with new spaces added in several provinces during 2024, congestion has not eased.
Argentina now imprisons 258 people per 100,000 inhabitants – the highest rate in its history. Córdoba tops the table with almost 377 prisoners per 100,000 residents, followed by Mendoza (308), Buenos Aires Province (305), Santa Fe (286) and Salta (267).
Deaths in custody
Deaths in custody are also climbing. Federal prisons recorded 40 deaths in 2024, 10 more than the previous year and close to the historic annual average of 43. In addition, eight people died in Buenos Aires City police stations and wardenships – six from illness and two as a result of violence.
Overall, 389 cases of institutional violence were documented, nearly 100 more than in 2023.
Conditions are particularly acute in Buenos Aires City, where as of March 2025 more than 2,500 people were being held in police stations and wardenships not designed for prolonged detention. The situation was costing City Hall 70.16 billion pesos in 2024, roughly 200 million pesos per day for custody and accommodation.
Against this backdrop, the Security Ministry has made participation in maintenance, cleaning and hygiene tasks compulsory for all detainees in the Federal Penitentiary Service.
Human rights organisations have criticised the move, warning it risks fostering coercive practices.
At the same time, the State is pressing ahead with new infrastructure. Chief among the projects is CEMAX in Córdoba, a planned maximum-security facility requiring 109 billion pesos in investment. The prison will contain 448 cells and is designed to hold more than 1,000 inmates classified as “high profile.”
PROCUVIN’s conclusion is blunt: far from stabilising, Argentina’s prison crisis is intensifying – with more inmates, more overcrowding, rising deaths and mounting public expenditure.
– TIMES/PERFIL
Comments