On February 4, A.E.J., a 43-year-old Biscayan prisoner, was found dead in his cell in Dueñas prison in Palencia. The Complaint of Álava reports that these were days when the inmate complained of chest pain and that on more than one occasion he sought health care. The family informs the association that, before his death, on the same day, he went to nursing. However, in the afternoon prisoners count, they found the body lying in the cell.

The family of the deceased had knowledge of the death of his family member from the hand of another person who remains a prisoner, as the prison did not inform him of what happened. The complaint reports that the family called all the city's hospitals and then managed to talk to the prison management. In this sense, the association denounces the systematic tendency to hide deaths in prison and the lack of communication with family members. "What communication mechanisms does the Prison Directorate have to report deaths within its walls? How can we know who dies inside? How many people without a family network forget? What are the causes of these deaths? they ask.

They also wanted to denounce that this death of insanity among barrotes is far from an isolated and exceptional case, and that prison as such damages health. "Isolation, relationship dynamics, poor nutrition, relationships of dependence with the environment... Structurally, prisons are structures that generate devastating effects on the health and physical health of residents".

Requirement for measures

The Complaint has asked the Government of Spain, the Ministry of the Interior and the Directorate General of Penitentiary Institutions what measures they will take to prevent deaths in prisons. For its part, the Association has called for concrete measures to be put in place: "as appropriate" for the Public Prosecutor's Office to investigate the deaths that occur in prison to prevent the deaths from going unpunished; for the directions of the prisons to inform their relatives impartially; for them to be able to claim the corresponding compensation for the death; for the family to be informed and supported by the family of the deceased in court; for the provision of psychosocial assistance.

The complaint has also demanded the Basque Government and the Basque political parties with parliamentary representation. In particular, he asks them to speak before the death of A.E.J., a Basque citizen who has died in a prison away from his place of residence.