The deputy delegate of the Government in A Coruña, María Rivas, presided this morning in the acts of Merced Day, patron of Penitentiary Institutions, in the Carmela Arias and Díaz de Rábago Social Insertion Center. The director of the center, Carla García, and the President of the Barrié Foundation, Pilar Romero Vázguez-Gulías, also took part in the event.
The subdelegate wanted to value the 45 years of the General Penitentiary Law, recalling that at that time it was the first Organic Law of Democracy and that it became a worldwide reference. “The law changed the penitentiary system because in reality its objective was to dignify the deprivation of liberty and establish reintegration as an essential objective, establishing a regime of exits and communications and creating, among other issues, the figure of the penitentiary judge,” said Rivas.
Rivas said that the precursor of the new General Penitentiary Law would be marked because undoubtedly some of its drafters knew the prisons of Franco’s regime and were clear about the best way to address a democratic society. That Law, together with the other rules that came into force later, made the Spanish penitentiary system a reference.
In the celebration of Merced Day, the subdelegate thanked the intense work of the professionals of Penitentiary Institutions highlighting that they play a fundamental role in the achievement of the main objective of penitentiary administration that is none other than to reinsert in society better people
María Rivas also wanted to acknowledge and thank the work of the institutions and entities that collaborate with the penitentiary administration, since all of them manage to form an institutional network that allows the penitentiary network to meet the objectives entrusted to it by the Constitution.
In particular, he pointed to the collaboration of the private social initiative, since, according to data from the Ministry of the Interior, 130 collaborating companies provide work for almost 3,000 inmates and 9,000 other convicted persons who receive monthly remuneration through them.
The subdelegate ended her speech by highlighting the work of the Barrié Foundation and of which she was its president, Carmela Arias and Díaz de Rábago, who since 1971 contribute and support the reintegration and training programs of inmates developed in Galician penitentiaries
In today’s event, the bronze medals were also awarded to the Penitentiary Merit to the Technique of the ÉRGUETE FOUNDATION, Rosaura Romo Hernández; to the Technique of the ÉRGUETE FOUNDATION, Ana Mª Suárez Pérez; and to the official of the Corps of Assistants of Penitentiary Institutions of the CIS, Luis Manuel García Carballo.
There were also two honorable mentions to Cristina Remeseiro Cao and Jose Enrique Robelo Sane, for their 25 years of professional career.
Finally, there was also a special recognition for the three CIS people who retired this year: José Miguel Olmos Diaz, José Manuel Fernandez Martinez and José Luis Garcia Alonso.