E-mail updates
Follow on Twitter
Subscribe to RSSThe jail in Comayagua, Honduras, was reportedly started by an inmate. NBC's Kerry Sanders reports.
Updated at 7:40 p.m. ET: TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras -- A Honduran supreme court judge says officials have confirmed 358 dead in a fire that tore through a prison late Tuesday, making it the worst of its kind in at least a century.
Justice Richard Ordonez, who is leading the investigation, said that with 856 prisoners packed into barracks, the farm prison in the Comayagua province north of the capital was at double capacity.
Officials had earlier said that as many as 356 people died, but then revised the death toll lower on Wednesday afternoon. By evening, authorities confirmed 358 dead. The local governor, a former prison employee, told reporters that an inmate called her moments before the fire and said he was going to set the 1940s-era facility on fire and kill everyone inside.
Survivors told investigators that an unidentified inmate screamed "We will all die here!" as he lit fire to his bedding late Tuesday night in the prison in the central town of Comayagua. The lockup housed people convicted of serious crimes such as homicide and armed robbery.
The blaze spread within minutes, killing about 100 inmates in their cells as firefighters struggled to find officials who had keys, Comayagua fire department spokesman Josue Garcia said. Prisons in the U.S. and other more developed nations have locks that can be released automatically in an emergency.
"We couldn't get them out because we didn't have the keys and couldn't find the guards who had them," Garcia said.
Six drowned after trying to seek refuge in a water tank inside the prison. Other prisoners were set free by guards but died from the flames or smoke as they tried to flee into the fields surrounding the facility, where prisoners grow corn and beans on a state-run farm for sale in the neighboring town. Rescuers carried shirtless, semi-conscious prisoners from the facility by their arms and legs. One hauled a victim away from the fire by piggyback.
"I saw the smoke from cell block 6 and it spread throughout the prison," said Ever Lopez, 24, who was serving time for homicide. "The other prisoners and I broke through the roof with our bare hands and fled. Thank God I'm alive."
Paola Castro, the governor of Comayagua state, said at a press conference that she had received a call several minutes before the first reports of a fire from a prisoner whom she did not name, who told her that "I will set this place on fire and we are all going to die!"
Little control inside prison
Officials have long had little control of conditions inside many Honduran prisons, where inmates have largely unfettered access to mobile phones and other contraband. A woman visiting her partner was among the victims.
Castro once worked as a secretary at the prison and is known by many inmates. She said she called the Red Cross and firefighters immediately to alert them of the danger.
Two employees of a hotel near the prison told The Associated Press that firefighters took between 20 and 30 minutes to arrive, and by then the flames had nearly subsided. The local fire chief said his men were there within 10 minutes.
A prisoner identified as Silverio Aguilar told HRN Radio that he first knew something was wrong when he heard a scream of "Fire! fire!"
"For a while, nobody listened. But after a few minutes, which seemed like an eternity, a guard appeared with keys and let us out," he said.
He said there had been 60 prisoners packed into his cell.
Some 475 people escaped and 356 are missing and presumed dead, said Hector Ivan Mejia, a spokesman for the Honduras Security Ministry. He said 21 people had been injured.
A 1930 prison fire in Ohio killed at least 320 prisoners.
Honduras has one of the world's highest rates of violent crime, and its overcrowded and dilapidated prisons have been hit by a string of deadly riots and fires in recent years. Officials have repeatedly pledged to improve conditions, only to say they don't have sufficient funds.
According to government statistics, the Comayagua prison was built in the 1940s for 400 people but held more than 800 prisoners watched over by about 100 guards.
"It's strange because the Comayagua prison has been a model of tranquility," Castro told reporters.
Honduran President Porfirio Lobo said on national television that he had suspended the country's top penal officials and said he would request international assistance in carrying out a thorough and transparent investigation.
"This is a day of profound sadness," he said.
Outraged relatives of dead inmates tried to storm the gates of the prison Wednesday morning to recover the remains of their loves ones, witnesses told The Associated Press. The crowds were driven back by police officers firing tear gas.
'We want to see the body'
Channel 5 television showed dozens of inmates' relatives hurling rocks at officers.
"We want to see the body," said Juan Martinez, whose son was reported dead. "We'll be here until we get to do that."
The prison housed people convicted of serious crimes such as murder, Danilo Orellana, director of the national prison system, told The Associated Press. The convicts are allowed to work outside, however, unlike those held in a maximum-security facility for the most dangerous prisoners in the capital.
It sits in the middle of irrigated fields and several large ponds, and appears to be comprised of eight buildings set closely together. Beyond the fields are the city streets of the town of Comayagua. A single dirt, tree-lined road leads in, passing a soccer field on the property. There is an open, dirt prison yard within the central compound.
A few blocks from the prison, Comayagua bustles with fast-food restaurants, hotels and gas stations.
Fire officials said the fire started around 10:50 p.m. Tuesday when the inmate set his bedding alight.
"Some of his cellmates said that he screamed: 'We will all die here!' And in five minutes everything burned," Orellana said. He did not identify the man or speculate about his motivation. Leonel Silva, fire chief in Comayagua, a town 90 miles (140 kilometers) north of the capital, confirmed Orellana's account to reporters on the scene.
A 2004 prison fire killed more than 100 incarcerated gang members in a state prison north of the Honduran capital. A fire a year earlier at a nearby facility killed 70 gang members. In 1994, a fire sparked by an overheated refrigerator motor in an overcrowded Honduras prison killed 103 people.
Honduran authorities have repeatedly pledged to improve conditions but human rights groups say little has been done in the country of 7.6 million people, a major transit route for drugs headed from South America to the United States.
The U.S. State Department has criticized Honduras for "harsh prison conditions" and violence against detainees.
"This is a problem that's existed for a long time and the solutions haven't been applied, but now we have to do something even though we don't have the money," Security Minister Pompeyo Bonilla told reporters.
The U.S. sent help from a base at Soto Cano Air Base, about 15 minutes away.
U.S. Military Staff Sgt. Bryan Franks said smoke was no longer visible above the city, and that his team included four vehicles made up of a 10-man medical team, security guards and firefighters.
Hundreds of relatives rushed to Santa Teresa Hospital in Comayagua state to learn the fate of their loved ones, Silva said.
Lucy Marder, chief of forensic medicine for the prosecutor's office, said she believed the death toll would rise and it would take at least three months to identify victims, some burned beyond recognition, because DNA tests will be required.
Honduras has 24 prisons, 23 for men or both genders, and one exclusively for women. In December, the total prison population was 11,846 of which 411 were women.
Orlando Sierra / AFP - Getty Images
Firefighters enter the prison after the fire broke out late Tuesday.
Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
More from msnbc.com and NBC News:
Leave a Comment:
Something beyond the burnt corpses stinks here. Are they saying people actually burned to death in their locked cells?
What a horror story.
fear that many inmates ran away? UHHH We wouldn't want them to get out of the burning HELL locked in a cell. 4th and 5th degree burns, that is to the muscle and bone.
DAMN. That prison is not known for its creature comforts and luxury. The international community needs to investigate this horror.
Concrete is one of the cheapest building material and most readily available in the world and usually doesn't catch fire very easily. Just makes me sick how in this country and so many others that people who who are put into jails or prisons are treated as less than human and their lives aren't worth any money to protect or preserve.
Let's hope that they DID run away! Human beings do NOT need to be locked up in this manner! If it is absolutely essential that they be locked up in prisons, there should be automatic lock releases so that all doors are opened in the event of an emergency such as this. Punishment for crimes should be severe and thorough flogging, televised for all to watch. After adequate flogging, perhaps over a period of days or weeks, those flogged should be ceremoniously kicked out of incarceration with a strong kick in the rump, and an admonishment to not return or the flogging would be doubled next time. This would solve our crime problem and greatly lower our taxes.
Do you have a cousin named Caligula by any chance? You both seem to share an insanity gene.
rwevans, have you ever been to Honduras? Almost everything is made of concrete. I doubt that the prison was made of bamboo and banana leaves.
That is one way to control overcrowding. Before anyone gets their panties in a bunch over that statement and thinks I'm heartless - If they hadn't broken the law they wouldn't have been there to get burnt alive. The article said that Honduras has the highest murder rate in the WORLD. Seems to me that at least some of them got what they deserved.
Thankfully, I'm not familiar with Honduran prisons, but they must be made of something other than concrete, some cheaper melding of materials, to burn rapidly enough to burn those inside alive faster than individual cells can be opened (assumption on my part they must be opened that way).
While I don't want them to be burned to death, I too would fear the prisoners that fled, especially after the 'highest murder rate' bit. An evolving story; I'm sure we'll hear more as it unfolds. Surely some in that prison that didn't belong....
Most of them probably dies from smoke inhalation before being burned. Nevertheless, this is a gruesome story, and I'm sure some may have burned to death in their cells where the fire started.
As a burn survivor, I know what pain and agony they went through and the survivors will go through as well, and the pain is going to be more than enough punishment than any prison sentence can ever deliver.
Culheath, glad you are a man of history! So am I! I do NOT propose maiming, mutilating or feeding the prisoners to the lions. They would be able to walk away and seek honest employment. A sentence for shop-lifting might be 5 lashes. A simple murder might require 100 lashes. No more than 10 lashes would be permitted in one day. After a 6 to 10 day period of healing, more would be applied until the entire sentence had been executed. The lashes, or flogging, would be designed to hurt like Hell and draw blood! For proper medical care, the wounds would be liberally splashed with alcohol after each flog was administered. Potential bank robbers, rapists, murderers, etc., watching this on TV would probably avoid ALL crime from that point forward. The criminal definitely would NOT return for more!
Sir, I am thoroughly fed up with our system of prisons and justice. We have a higher percentage of our population incarcerated than any other nation on earth, including North Korea, China, Vietnam, Iran, Laos, Myanmar, Russia, Iraq, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, etc. This is a ridiculous record for our nation to hold. I, for one, do NOT wish to pay the taxes to provide for their lodging, food, clothing, medical care and security. Release them with $50, a tube of ointment for their back wounds, a big smile, and an invitation to "return soon!" A free copy of the "help wanted" ads might also be provided. I guarantee you that less than 1% would ever return, and 99% of potential criminals would avoid going through the process. Now, you tell me how YOU are going to solve our problem of crime, justice and punishment!
What an awesome idea! We need a few "accidental prison fires" here in the US! I don't care what you morons think about how insensitive I am. England had a prison population problem a couple hundred years ago and shipped them all to this little place we now call Australia. They had to fend for themselves and did a pretty damn good job. Sometimes the most unorthodox of ideas end up working out in the best possible ways. Just saying.
NVArt - No one "deserves" the horror of being burned alive. This is a tragedy and a testament to the dangers of overcrowding our prisons.
Well if they weren't in prison then they would have not been burned to death, perhaps we need a few massive prison fires here to clean all the human garbage in them i.e. murderers, rapists, child molesters, gang bangers and the like. Less prisoners means less taxes for hardworking law abidng citizens.
Honduras has been overrun by drugs and crime. In response, the government rewrote the constitution and allowed the army to arrest people without trial, filling the prisons with innocent poor people (some of them children). There are more innocent in prison than guilty. Most of the people in prison are there because they are too poor to bribe the corrupt police.
Maybe if this is posted all over Honduras, maybe the criminals will see that going to prison is not a good option in the highest murder rated country. I guess their recidivism numbers will look better for a while now.
The US could do with a few prison fires.....
the flogging ideas are great!
that is, if criminals actually cared about punishment when they made their decisions to do criminal activity.
fact is, most dont...and many are operating under the impression they could die any minute
if death isnt enough motivator to change your ways, what makes anyone believe temporary flogging would? wounds heal...and I would be willing to bet most criminals would substitute being locked up for some floggs, hands down.
you have to stop using YOUR mentality to assume how criminals would respond.
you and I would not be able to bear the flogging, a mentally unstable maniac...I doubt it would phase them.
I imagine you'd be in favor of capital punishment for wny felony conviction. After all, why go the expense of feeding and housing criminals if we could just eliminate them completely, right?
And if we executed them immediately following their conviction we wouldn't need to worry about those pesky appeals where some conviceted are determined to actually be innocent.
Yeah, let's just get rid of all of the amendments but the second one.
Jessica - If flogging were the primary form of punishment, that doesn't mean we wouldn't still have institutions for the truly mentally insane. Flogging is a strong deterrent for many, but for those whom it isn't, they can be put in a max security facility with mental rehabilitation to the fullest possible extent.
1) Sarah Brandely: You have been reported for spamming, by me. I hope many other readers to the same thing.
2) NVart: I won't go so far as some of the "bleeding hearts" who say the "Nobody deserves to be burned alive" because there are some criminals who DO deserve that, and even then it is unfortunate that they cannot be resurrected to do it again and again (but that's Satan's job in hell according to prevailing theology). I refer to criminals such as that pair in Connecticut who were recently handed down a death sentence, or extreme odious cases of child abuse/murder. Out of the 360 or so inmates who got turned into cold, crispy critters, the odds are high that at least some of them fit that profile. The odds are even higher, however, especially in a Central American country so wracked by gang violence and corruption that it is on the verge of being a failed state, that some of the inmates are guilty of no more than jaywalking if that much. It is not America or England where one can be imprisoned only after a "fair trial by a jury of one's peers," and even with our safeguards we sometimes get it wrong. You may want to carefully consider what you are so casually accepting.
re: the flogging idea. only 100 lashes for murder? seems kind of like a light penalty. I might be ok with flogging someone who does moderately violent behavior, like when someone illegally flogs someone else, but extreme violence like murder deserves prison.
the Fire, ain't up above, nor down below.. HELL/ FIRE IS BEHIND BARS !!!.....
Donot be so fast to judge here folks!
OK, to all you haters who are assuming anyone in prison must have done a crime, the hallmark of a corrupt or ineptly-run system of government is blaming the politically disfavored for any crime that the local officials can not solve.
It is much easier to "close a case" by finding some poor innocent whose ethic minority, cultural identity or religious beliefs is disfavored, and convict them of the unsolved crimes. This happens in rich countries, too!
As someone who has seen many miscarriages of justice in America's legal system, I can not imagine how many more injustices would be inherent in a third-world poor country like Honduras.
Judge not, lest ye be judged.
I was in the Capital City in 2001 and did a project in a rural community for several weeks. While there I happened to meet some member of Lions Club International donating a retired fire engine to a Honduran community (Santa Rosa I believe). My point: as a firefighter here in the states he have standards that govern our equipment as well as the design of jails. A lot was learned in the US from a fire in Biloxi MS in the 1980's about fires in jails and today changes have been made in combustability of materials in the jail, unlocking systems to rapidly release the inmates while still confining them to outer yards, etc. While anyone can have an opinion and cast judgement on the authorities and even the victims (while being inmates, in this instance they were indeed victims) the tragedy is that due to being an impoverished nation it is likely the facility was the best they could do, yet still designed for just such a tragedy. I'm no bleeding heart, I'm sure there were some pretty bad hombres in the jail, but the sentencing and punishment is determined by the courts, not a fire caused by an inmate who may have had mental health issues to begin with. History should teach us all a lesson. In 1930 Ohio State had a disasterous fire and then a smoky fire in MS in the 80's both should have taught the world enough to avoid this tragedy or build in features to help prevent it. A easily burnt through piece of plastic incorporated into the roof would have allowed the heat and smoke to vent up and out and maybe helped limit the tragedy. It wouldn't have been expensive and would have required minimal maintenance but I'm sure it was something that honestly wasn't considered before.
OK...They have two hypothesis.....One is an inmate set his mattress on fire and the other is an accidental electrical short.
Gee.....I wonder which one the corrupt investigators will be paid to come up with???
Remember kids....Stay out of prison......"Crack is Whack!!!"
highest murder rate, im sure all have commited a crime. they were in prison for a reason, concrete doesnt burn, so its fishy, but who cares, prisoniers are ruthless people, regardless what they did, steal, do drugs, kill. if you live a normal life you wouldnt be in jail. so this is a way the government can clean up, and add more people to the jail system. instead of killing them since i dont think they have capital punishment.
its just a cleansing.
honduras isnt peaches and creme anyways.
StateAtty, some people DO deserve that. I didn't live in Honduras, I lived in Guatemala. One of the highest rates of murder in the world, but nothing next to Honduras. Get out of your fantasy world. I don't know about this prison, if they were mostly just robbers or if this was a prison for murderers... but most gangs REQUIRE that you murder to even be in them, and the article seems to hint that the prisoners were all or mostly gang members. Some gangs are known for not letting you enter unless you have murdered 5 people... or a youth... 3 rival gang members... etc.
We're not talking holding up a store at gun point. We're talking people that murder and murder for fun. People that rape, torture, and behead just because they can. I can't say if the people in this prison deserve it, as I don't know their crimes. But there ARE people that deserve that and worse.
They police down there Regularly go out in hit squads to kill gang members. This could have been intentional.
E K Kadiddlehopper – You must know less about crime and human nature in general than just about any human being on the planet. First you say prisoners should be treated better, then you say they should be flogged and that this will somehow put an end to crime. What an idiotic statement! You seem to suffer from this naïve delusion that the only reason people don’t commit crimes is because they fear the consequences. The fact of the matter is the threat of "flogging" or any kind of torture for that matter would have virtually no affect on the number of crimes committed or the total number of criminals. I imagine you probably also think that if you’re kids aren’t behaving in exactly the manner you want them to that they just haven’t been beaten hard enough. All crime occurs in a specific psychological strata, and until we get to the bottom of what drives people down to this mental level we will always have crime. Televised punishment might give you some sort of sick satisfaction but it does nothing to curb crime. As for the condition of the prisons all I can say is that’s its not very realistic to expect a dirt poor country to house prisoners in better conditions than half its own free citizen. Poverty sucks but it’s a fact of life and even a lot of free people live in deplorable conditions in these countries. As for the dead prisoners I consider them to be the lucky ones. I would personally rather be dead then to spend half my life in one of those prisons.
Sloppy, please think of this little gem of a saying, and how it applies to what you just said about "cleansing".
First they came for the Jews and I did not speak out because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for the Communists and I did not speak out because I was not a Communist.
Then they came for the trade unionists and I did not speak out because I was not a trade unionist.
Then they came for me and there was no one left to speak out for me.
What happened was a tragedy, even if every last one of them were scumbags. If even one of them wasn't, it's even worse. Fire is no way to die. Some people deserve death, but not by fire or smoke inhalation. I believe this should be investigated and the government, figuratively speaking, either slapped on the face (if it WAS an accident) or beaten until it bleeds from every pore (if it wasn't). Of course, doing the latter would make us no better, but that's my feeling on the matter.
Yes, I'm for executions. I'm also for better law enforcement and streamlined laws. Not necessarily simpler, but streamlined, certainly. Any programmer or tabletop game writer can tell you how bad it is to have obfuscated lines of code, or rules in the book. What happened there was an example of what the US could be if we're not a bit more careful. And I don't just mean building codes, either. "There, but for the grace of God, go we", as it were.
There is no mention that the US State Department is actively militarizing the local Honduran police force; wasting more money on the "war on drugs".
The only reason its profitable is because its prohibited here and not starving to death is of a higher priority when living in the second poorest country in the western hemisphere. The murder rate is a byproduct and I highly doubt that a significant amount of the prisoners were murderers, though the article clearly would have you think that.
as fast as they breed...theyll have bred enough down there to re-populate that prison in one day!
The inmates inside were convicted of homicide and armed robbery. Call me a monster of you so wish, but the trash just got taken out in a big, glorious fireball. I have little love for people that go around killing others, or people that hold someone's possessions at knife point.
Punishment should fir the cime. Theft we chain you up and you go to work to repay the debt you stole. Death for death as soon as they are found guilt. White collar cirmes such as tax evasion should again be chained up at work and reapy the debt. NOW Who is th man I gather you a another drug liberal with the quote on "wasting money on the drug war" Shoudl we all smoke some crack and get high....So what do we do whent he money runs out or someone steals your DRUGS...We did the whole lets make drugs leagl thing. It was done like in the Bay area in the 70's casue one senator had a son who was a druggie that was in and out of jail for drugs. Guess what didn't work and won't work.
Most of the people in prison are petty criminals, not murderers or gang members. NO human being regardless of what they've done deserves to die such a horrible death. I don't know if any of you who are advocating or praising this tragedy have ever seen someone burn to death but it leaves you with nightmares that never go away. We are supposed to be civilized people, not barbarian thugs or devoid of compassion or incapable of tempering justice with mercy. If someone is sentenced to death, it should ONLY be for certain heinous crimes and after forensic and all other evidence properly collected has been presented at a properly conducted trial with competent attorneys and judges, and a competent and properly-instructed jury has found the accused guilty and meted out death as fitting. Even then, we are capable of humane execution. It should not be a circus or public "entertainment" and certainly not a lynch mob.
And for those of you calling yourselves Christian, consider what Jesus would do under these circumstances. Better yet, spend some time actually studying His teachings. If you want to do something constructive to your faith, how about praying for the families of these men? They were not faceless strangers but sons and fathers, brothers and husbands, uncles and cousins. God made each and every one of them with the same hands He made you, made them in His image just like He made you, and loved them despite their sins every bit as much as He loves you.
People whom were raped or murdered didn't derserve to die. Just how many people did they kill? If your are suspected of killing someone, odds are you killed them. If you are put in a prison, you are a criminal. Once you release that 'petty criminal', do you think he will 'straighten up'? No! He will probably go back to stealing for methampedimine and the like. They don't stop! If a murderer is realised, he will go back to murdering.
English isn't even my first language, and you don't capitalize 'he'. If I walked up to you and said "he went home", you don't know who 'he' is. 'He' is a nonproper noun, so use it as one.
'God' now cares directly for how many people because of these men? Ask yourself that. You pay for men who kill for entertainment. I would rather pay ten Dollars for a pack of bullets to kill seven, than pay fivehundred sixty for food for them. I don't want to feed killers, and I am sure you don't either.
Have any of you considered the possibility that some of them (as well as criminals in general) had family who loved them, despite their mistakes, and where heart broken at their lose.
@ Allison. I'm not particularly religeous, but that was statement was simply lovely and I applaud you for it .
@ Sergey, Allison said "NO human being regardless of what they've done deserves to die such a horrible death", NOT " not that "They didn't deserve to die". Anyway, believe it or not some people have the capacity to change (though putting them through a hostile enviroment is unlikely to rehabilitate them). And before you get on my case, though I do not believe in an "eye for an eye", I do believe in the death penalty. But only when a case is absolutely hopeless, so as to not waste resources.
StateAtty - Number one - this didn't happen in OUR prisons, it happened in a Honduras prison. I will also bet you that some of the people incarcerated there did deserve to get burned alive. Just as some of the cartel members in Mexico deserve to die in the most horrible way imaginable. If you act like a rabid animal by killing and torturing people then good riddance.
Insensitivity aside, if you destroy prisons to "take care of" the inmates, you are going to have that many less cells in which to put prisoners in the future. I think, perhaps insensitivity may be the least of your problems...
My wife is from Honduras, and we travel there at least once a year to see her family. When there is a place with such poverty, it is not uncommon for things like this to happen. There are no fire inspectors checking to make sure buildings are up to code(if there are even codes to begin with). They do not have the resources to ensure the general public is safe, much less convicted criminals. Most of these are gang members, and the gang problem is totally out of control there. The US deports all gang members to their original countries where the police are then overwhelmed by them. They get stronger and stronger while their country falls into chaos. The US has to change its policy or face more of the same as these criminals return home, recuperate, start up their own "chapters" of gang affiliates, and then cross the border once again.
what policies are the US to change? If they were deported, then they entered the country illegally. Hondorus has to change it's system...adopt and enforce fire codes, and fix their prisons. Not our fault their prison and code enforcement systems are not up to par, but we're certainly not going to hold onto the illegal immigrant gang membors. My wife is from Brazil, but I certainly wouldn't say we should hold onto the illegal Brazilian gang members.
and what does any of this have to do with U.S. policy if anything we don't throw illegals out of the country nearly fast enough, in my opinion as soon as you enter this country without ALL of your documentation in place, you should be seriously concerned about any knock on the door, and it should be a heavily armed SWAT, INS or ICE whatever acronym border patrol and U.S. customs or immigration officials are using these days, load up ALL of them men women and children onto the very next freight train to wherever south of the border and let them fend for themselves, those that resist should either produce the documents, leave or be shot....so as you can clearly see if anything the U.S. does not enforce these policies nearly enough, their policies are fine they just need to stop being the world's doormat and stop being walked on by every lunatic and despot on the planet.....
On this day in 1988, to further the administration’s effort to put pressure on the leftist Sandinista government in Nicaragua, President Ronald Reagan ordered more than 3,000 U.S. troops to Honduras, asserting that Nicaraguan soldiers had crossed its borders.
In 1979, the Sandinista National Liberation Front of Nicaragua under Daniel Ortega overthrew the 43-year dictatorship of the Somoza family. In 1984, Ortega was elected president. (In 1990, after Reagan had left office, Ortega was defeated and replaced by a right-wing alliance under Violeta Chamorro.)
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0310/34462.html
"When there is a place with such poverty, it is not uncommon for things like this to happen."
I always find it funny that we dont see the reality right in front of our face.
so, people in places like honduras sit on their arse and do little, dont progress and evolve...because "there isnt enough printed paper money"?
money is a tool, and when used correctly it can build a nation and her people up as high as they wish to go.
when used incorrectly, it will tear nations down...while building a select few people up, as high as they wish to go.
we accept poverty, because we're too stupid to understand that money isnt real...work, progress and outcome are real.
if people need homes and food, then there's work in building homes and growing/harvesting food.
it's a fallacy to believe that the world would stop working, if rich people couldnt get richer than necessary...and it's a fallacy to believe that all poor people refuse to work, most simply refuse to work so hard for so little...as we conclude UBER RICH PEOPLE would do if their incomes over a million were taxed at 90% (why bother working if I cant keep ALL MY MONEY)...well, the poor person says "why bother working when I dont benefit at all from this work"
ah, have we figured it out yet...money isnt real, just a tool?
we have a choice - do we want to build up nations and people
or do we want to build up individuals, at the expense of nations and it's people?
your greed will determine the answer...
(and before you scream communism or socialism, im not talking about paying a janitor the same as nuclear physicist...im talking about logical incentives for logical work, not a false idea of EQUALITY)
"maras," which started in the United States and then spread down into Central America, with members covered in distinctive tattoos.
Started in the US?? Why would a **US citizen** get covered with tattoos and then travel to Central America to start a violent gang??????
Just maybe they were not US citizens, si o no?
NEA Exec.,
Believe it or not, this is true. Immigrants from Salvador came to California after the civil war. A lot of them were ex-guerrillas, which started groups to protect their own from other rival immigrants. They eventually turned to crime and became the gangs they are today. They since then sent many members back to recruit new members. Research it before you have a knee-jerk reaction.
Butch-2263628:
Do you think MAYBE they were up here recruiting to begin with, or were they just 'poor lost souls'? Really? They were violent to begin with!!! They just moved south to become rich as Salvador's idea of RICH is FAR less money than ours. Too much hard work for them so they moved.
Doesn't matter.
It's called community. However, the fellowship among neighbors, talking that takes place, or socializing in a group, those who have not will go to those that have "... and if his household be too little for the lamb, let him and his neighbor next unto his house take ..."
Why should the USA change the deportation policies? If Honduras and all of these damn countries can't keep their own gang issues under control then let the gang members burn in prison! Sick of the rest of the world blaming the USA for their problems. We have enough problems now, we shouldn't have to solve other countries problems. Maybe you and your Honduran wife should move back there and fix 'em.
Jessica-1170252
I believe what you are talking about is Extrinsic and Intrinsic motivation. Are ppl Intrinsically motivated to work hard because they feel what they are doing is making a difference for the ppl in their society or are they Extrinsically motivated by money to work or be punished by becoming poor from lack of work.
:)
Jessica Here is your statement >when used incorrectly, it will tear nations down...while building a select few people up, as high as they wish to go.
Awesome And I do not believe in Commies or Socialism either. It is odd to me that our Nation is quickly becoming. A third world country and most refuse to see it.
Any government is going to grow and stay involved in that nations Financial matters. And they will tax and spend money. Cant separate the two. What I wish that people would get a grasp of is. That it is not the spending. It is what we are spending the money for.
Start two wars and reduce taxes you end up where we are now. Stay out of wars and Build up infrastructure and educate the masses. The country grows.
About the prisons and the Crime rate here in the USA. It is mostly a drug problem. Which is connected to these poorer countries. The Drugs the American citizen consumes. Goes through all those hands. Fix the drug problem and the rest will fix itself. Cartels have no power if they have no money.
So these deaths have everything to do with our foreign policy. And our prisons are overcrowded as well. All due to Pot, Meth and Cocaine. When a high dollar market is created. Even governments attempt to cash in. Just look at privatizing prisons here in the USA.
Corrections is a huge market.
NEA Exec. The Mara's started in L.A. in order to protect themselves from the Dominant Sureno's From L.A.
People from Hondura's Or El Salvador are not Chicano or Mexican. So they started their own. These we're the kids from Immigrants from the War in El Salvador. They do not get along with Mexican Americans. The Sureno's are controlled by the Mexican mafia. And they control the drug trade here in the USA. They control the Prisons out west and in the south. They even have hands in our levels of Government. Crooked Corrections officers Judges Advocates Police sheriffs. You name it.
The Cartels that are the most powerful due to our Nations war on drugs are now Mexican. They even have an influence and some control over the Mara's 18th st. And other Street level Gangs. And Joe the taxpayer gets to pay for some other Dope fiends habit.
While the drug Cartels and the Mexican Mafia grow stronger. Richer and have farther reaching arms into our government as well.
To tell the truth we should have left the Cartels in Columbia alone. At least they had some minor civility.
Who did they want dead? Check the inmate names.
i doubt anyone of importance was in this jail... Honduras does not have a history of political prisoners, if you matter and are not wanted and have no money or leverage to pay for your life, typically you just disappear.
Human garbage incenerated, no great loss.
@Sapience... So you are saying anyone who is in prison is garbage and deserves to die? you are a very mean individual and feel sorry for you.
Sapience:
I was waiting for one jerk to make such a comment. I am proud to see you are above making any mistakes.
May God have mercy on your soul.
@Robert Husted-Well here's another "jerk" for you. I am with you Sapience. Lets light them all up here in the US too! Oh, and if you are in a gang, throw you in there too.
So if I am locked up for simply smoking pot I deserve to die. Thats what you just stated. Not all of the prisoners are guilty of crimes that violate others rights. You are a blood lusting, non-compassionate, waste of skin. Have a nice day, Mr. Holier than Thou.
Whatever, if smoking pot is against the law, so be it! Where are the boudaries for breaking the law "retardican"? Breaking one law usually leads to breaking another, and another, and so on.. Simple-DON'T BREAK THE LAW.
Sapience, given Guatemalan "justice", I suspect that at least some of these prisoners were falsely incarcerated. I suspect that others were guilty of non-violent crimes. Your comment is deplorable. No one deserves to burn to death, locked in a cell. And no, I am not a tree hugging liberal. I am a human being who measures his humanness against normal standards of being "civilized". A person who would wish such suffering, even on those who have made people suffer, is no different than they.
Sapience sounds like a German officer in World War II working at one of the SS built Extermination camps
Sapience is probably a member of the Tea Party, and does NOT wish to pay down the national debt, or even his own personal debts. He probably fell right in line with tyrant Nancy Grace and wanted Casey Anthony executed, and has been in painful knots throughout his body since she was found not guilty. If you will check him out, he probably has an excellent ability to swing from limb to limb, and spends most of his time in jungle trees!
Hey Robert, nothing better to do then wait for a "JERK"!
Maybe your soul can go on "JERK" patrol and have mercy on them!
Wow, so breaking the law should be punishable by death that the logic is that when one person breaks one law they will go on to break more. what a concept, so basically laws are like sins, and hence since we are all born into sin, then logically everyone is going to sin, and since sin is like the law then everyone breaks the law ..so..everyone should be put to death. AWESOME!!! makes sense to me.
You can say all you want about Sapienece BUT, We can blame ALL of you bleeding-hearts for the exeedingly high number of criminals we have today. Any of you who feel sorry for any of the trash that persihed or is suffering from that fire should be locked up with the remainder of them! What is wrong with you people? Those low-lifes committed CRIMES, killed people raped people, etc. If you a-holes feel bad for them, bring them to your house! Let's see how long your "feelings" and compassion for garbage stays positive.
And you EK are probably a member of the Demothugs. Speaking of swinging from trees..
And you guessed wrong, I am NOT a Repulican, "Tea Party", blah, blah, blah, nor am I a Democrat..
Seems like you ain't much at all.
You behave as a fool, WeRthrough. The U.S. has an inordinate number of people incarcerated because of ethically unjustifiable laws against drug possession and usage, as well as an increasingly privatized prison system that literally profits off high prison populations. There is plenty of slave labor in the United States of America (to hell with the Fourteenth Amendment, right?), namely prison labor done by men and women whose lives are irreparably screwed because they dared to behave in a manner not consonant with the increasingly draconian demands of the unaccountable fascist elite. Any U.S. law enforcement official should automatically be viewed as a paid sociopathic enforcer of a paradigm designed to reduce the masses to the level of cattle, to be used, abused, and discarded at will.
I lived in Latin America for a year, and thus understand in a way I would not otherwise, the U.S.'s horrible record of economic and human rights abuses towards those who live south of the Rio Grande. Instead of encouraging Latin American governments to follow a model similar to the Costa Rican framework - good jobs, humane living conditions, health care and education available to all - the U.S. government instead props up vicious dictatorial regimes, and guts countries' economies in order to benefit multinational corporations and the bankers with whom they function hand-in-hand. (There's a reason that the C.I.A. is known as "The Company" - the Central Intelligence Agency is of, by, and for moneyed interests, and uses its status as an arm of the U.S. government as a cover for its nefarious activities worldwide.) Honduras is a banana republic that accommodates gang activity and violent crimes of all sorts in no small part BECAUSE of longstanding U.S. policy towards Latin America. And now, unfortunately, the United States of America is morphing into a banana republic itself, with all the woes that such a transition entails.
In summary, WeRthrough, your indefensible viewpoint is fueled by a dangerous combination of ignorance and self-righteousness, and you would do well to keep silent. Instead, listen, read, and observe in the hopes that your opinions can assume a more morally redoubtable form.
I was in Prison for 14 years for murder and assault, i was locked up at 17 years old and was there until i was 31. I got out in 1999 i am married with two beautiful kids and in college..senior year actually...Now outside of a few speeding tickets i haven't gone out and broken any laws... after 14 years i should be a cold heartless worthless human with no desire to do the right thing or uphold the law, yet i do, not because prison taught me anything useful, because I decided ...made the choice to not break the law and make a life for myself worth living, but based on the logic of these posts, i should be dead, not worth saving, a throw away...sorry, my wife and kids would disagree...D"OH
Well NTM-You are just another blind idiot and here is why:
There are some of us whom instead of believing everything they were taught about how people really are and why in the LIBERAL institutions that we call schools, the media, the churches, etc. (all massive centers for brainwashing and let's not forget the main ingredient- Hypocrisy) chose to keep our OWN eyes open instead, thereby learning things from REAL experiences and not what the "brainwashers" wanted me to believe. Oh, and let's not forget the people that live in places or areas that don't have much crime and are sheltered somewhat from reality in that manner, they will almost always be liberals as well, because of not "seeing" things first-hand on a normal basis if ever, and never broken out of their fragile little liberal shell. Yeah, they are the ones that are "completely shocked", etc. when something finally does happen in their neck of the woods. Everyone is naturally born Liberal and it is too bad we cannot all stay that way, BUT there is the "reality" (there I go again) that a large number of people will turn bad, therefore throwing out all of the rules of being a Liberal. In other words, GOOD is GOOD, BAD is BAD. "GOOD" can most certainly go "BAD", but "BAD" can rarely be made back into good (assuming it was good in the first place) when it comes to humans this is especially true. There are a few rare instances, but not nearly enough to warrant the theory of "Liberalism" and "rehabilitation", especially where criminals are concerned.
In retrospect, you're talking about a country that is infested with drugs and gangs. Many of which have fueled the Mexican drug empire to be so out of control that the US is even having trouble pushing these individuals back across the border. I can't say that I'm all for the humane approach on this matter, as I believe in an eye for an eye, alas, some of you have made good points concerning the legal systems of such a country, which is understandable, and there should be some shed grief concerning the matter. I don't see many people losing sleep over this incident though.
Honduras accommodates gang activity and violent crimes because the people have little to survive on unless they turn to the drug trade. I call BS on the U.S. policy towards Latin America, as the policy has remained the same, it's just becoming more of a mess now than it ever has been. Much like I stated above, the fanning flames of the drug trade in Mexico is stemmed by Honduras and other Latin American countries, along with a fair amount of South American countries. Their economy is isn't an economy, it's a damned crying shame is what it is. And in no way does it pertain to the US to intervene, as much as it pertains to the Honduran government to intervene and say enough is enough.
Really? So the very sociopaths that THESE sociopaths are putting away are the wrong sociopaths? Is that how I am understanding your logic? Sounds like you just want everyone to live their lives believing in unicorns and pretty ideals. I don't quite understand why you would want a lawless state. I'm pretty sure I could offer up some reasoning as to why that would be a terrible idea.
WeRthrough, if you take away any possibility of hope and change for a human, what do they become? An animal put in a cage for years without hope is going to be less of an animal when you let that animal out of that cage? If you break the spirit of a human being what do they have Left to draw from once they released from the four walls that has held them built by the people who only proclaim to hate them? There are enough monsters in this world, we don't need to be building institutions to give birth to more.
WeRthrough, Sapience
Well, I've decided I don't like you, so I think it's perfectly OK for you both to die slowly and horribly. After all, isn't it my right to decide that? If you can make moral decisions for everyone else, so can I, right?
ntm1972 - You said it perfectly. WeRthrough - The first of us to condemn is the most deserving of condemnation. Your words of hate are filled with so much ignorance it makes me sick.
First, your black and white view of "CRIMINAL" is disgusting and ignorant. What, in your mind, makes a person a "CRIMINAL"? One who commits a "crime"? Do you, therefore, put 100% faith in those of us selected to draft our criminal laws? Do those of us selected to draft our criminal laws somehow have an omnipotent wisdom over right and wrong, moral and immoral? Are our criminal laws not constantly evolving? Was there not a time when possession of marijuana was perfectly legal? Was there not a time when forcing another into slavery was legal? What, exactly, do you consider a crime? And what makes your inclusions in that definition any better than anyone else's inclusions? Does every single person believe that their neighbor should be locked up for driving after revocation of a license? Or for driving without insurance? Or for failure to pay child support? And do those people locked up for those "crimes" deserve to be burned alive? Could it not be possible that some "criminals" are not bad people? Could it not be possible that some have families who love them? Could it not be possible that some did not want to be "criminals" at all but were born into situations of poverty with gang life being an only option? Or are you just too lazy and ignorant to consider anything past a black and white view of another individual?
Secondly, you assume that everyone in prison is guilty. Why don't you enlighten yourself with some facts: www.innocenceproject.org. Do those 280 innocent inmates exonerated through new advances in D.N.A. testing deserve to be burned alive?
Thirdly, your desire to allow another human being to be burned alive, including those of us who would defend those people, makes you no better than the "criminals" themselves. Consider, for one, the Terroristic Threats statutes that have been enacted in every state over the past twenty years. Your words fall directly into the acts proscribed by these statutes:
"Whoever communicates to another with purpose to terrorize another or in reckless disregard of the risk of causing such terror, that explosives or an explosive device or any incendiary device is present at a named place or location, whether or not the same is in fact present, may be sentenced to imprisonment for not more than three years" - Minn. Stat. Sec. 609.713, subd. 2.
By your own black and white view of the term "criminal," you, my friend, are one.
Let me guess, you're voting for Santorum. After all, only white, straight, "christians" have the right to live.
WeRThrough - just so we are clear, the next time you get pulled over for speeding (or heck, maybe a cop wont even see it but I will) can we then just BEHEAD YOU right on the side of the road?
I mean seriously, if you're reckless enough to break a speeding law...I can only imagine what other laws you're willing to break.
I shudder to think if you've ever jaywalked!!!
or parked too far from the curb!
It's cool though, i've already sent the GESTAPO to keep a close eye on you, and the minute you break even ONE LAW (no matter how dumb the law) OFF WITH YOUR HEAD.
this is awesome, why didnt we think of this earlier?
Sapience and all who agree with him, you are all just ignorant. My son got in trouble for drugs as a teen and was charged as an adult, went to prison, and is now doing great. So lumping all prisoners into one group shows your ignorance. Actually have a little knowledge about a topic before you put your head in your ass again.
Blah, blah, blah, lib-tards on parade.. You will all be awakened soon enough when your unicorns gore you while laughing uncontrollably.
WeRthrough - it takes an especially disturbed mind to come up with that image you offered.
CONGRATS! be careful of the unicorns though, I hear they are indescriminate in who they gore.
Pardon me, I think we all have an open expressive opinion that its interpretation can get lost in a simple lack of form of writing. I am with many of you - the accusing...the merciful. I believe justice is needed to be done on perpetrators (to be punished after sufficient evidence) and the innocent. I also believe that, not only our US-Policy-jail-system, but other countries that are affiliated with the US, need to better accommodate jail sentencing and, yet, even capital punishment. Everyone knows how to identify(once true evidence has been prove) Murderer, Child-Molester, Rapist to a Mugger, Arsonists, Bully; these can be put in two categories in which each deserve the privilege to remain in a "prison-system" or deserve the "death-penalty" each subject alike can be studied to warrant. Yes, we are not God. Nevertheless, don't forget that even capital-punishment is found in The Bible. Why is this? Because even God sought to his people to handle murderers and alike; of course, in our world today, when enough evidence is found. It's simple. Yet, our own bureaucratic and behind the scenes money gropers that run our judicial system and, perhaps, even law makers, they have found loop-holes to their enrichment advantages. Too many laws/policies ruin the common sense of identity punishment treatment. My opinion.
To base my saying here is a link: www. theologyonline.com / death.html
(forum doesn't copy/paste adequately the link)
Also, think about how much our country would save in currency, if, we just followed a simple rule or way of governing. We the Tax-payer wouldn't be taxed to the fullest on these prison sentencings and our money would be used for other means, like, our Nation's deficit :D
Well, Jessica, I told myself I would no longer reply to you retards, but..
I don't believe in unicorns which was part of my point, therefore the fear of one turning on me is moot point-undersatnd?. But I can only assume what part of it you would be riding if there were.
"Disturbed mind" you say? That is your opinion, and we ALL know what that is worth especially where dip s h i t s like you stateattny are concerned.
So jeSICKa, you go back to your meaningless life, and StatAssh0le, you go back to defending the garbage with the rest of the bastard lawyers that should be thrown in jail right next to the garbage that you so proudly defend.
I can think of a few crimes that should warrant the death penalty. i.e rape, kidnapping, murder, and definitely child molesting. But I would venture to say that some of those in that prison were jailed trying scratch a living out any way they could, in a poverty stricken country, to include theft. @ sapience and we r through, you 2 are just freakin idiots and are entitled to your own opinion. No matter how stupid it is. By the way after serving in combat in the U.S. Marines. I had a little trouble adjusting and went through a period where I got into som legal problems such as DUI. Thankfully I did not hurt anyone. If either one of you idiots want to come and impose your sentence on me, come on! After coming home I really don't want to see death and violence anymore, but I can make an exception for you 2 a__holes.
Can't argue or reason with retards Alan. Sorry you also fall into that category. And your excuse for all of the incarcerated here is? Talk about an "a___hole, you are a clueless a---hole!
sure, i use deductive reasoning in my posted arguement and we are the ones who can't be reasoned with...sorry WeRthrough i don't think its us who is sitting on the short bus licking the windows. have a great day.
No RWretard, I am driving it! See you in hell if it exists..
That's one solution to overcrowding.
The word sapience is derived from the Latin sapientia, meaning "wisdom"
Change your handle, in your case, it's a lie.
culheath! Oh, perfect one! We have the privelege to hear from you YET AGAIN!!!! Does anyone dare doubt your greatness!? Would anyone else dare to look up the Root/definitions of words to IMPRESS others?(or use a teleprompter like your hero?)
I don't know, I didn't look it up, I happened to know the root already, just as I know the etymology of many other words. You feeling intimidated or something?
Tarted by rioting prisoners or an electrical short? What were the dead serving time for and why were they left behind to die? If this kind of episode happened here in this country there would be no end to the turmoil it would create. But as it is in a third world country, people seem to think it's no big deal. This kind of incident is unacceptable no matter where it happens.
I hope the guards made it out ok. I know a few "SuperMax" prisons in the U.S. that could be burned to the ground.
Not quite sure what policy you are talking about Rebel and what is the U.S. facing that is more of the same? Are you saying that the U.S. should stop deporting immigrants who commit violent crimes or who represent organized criminal organizations? While I am a proponent of America continuing to be a place for new beginnings I see no reason to keep the violent or criminally minded. Why should we pay to store them in our own prisons? Ship em home.
It is also NOT our fault a poor nations prison system is substandard. I doubt many of the population in that prison were US deportees. Fire is a terrible way to die and I am sure many lives were lost for crimes that did not come close to meriting a death sentence. However, if in fact, the prisoners were rioting, I have little sympathy for them. The guards would have been too busy fighting or escaping to try to open cell doors and get folks out of the fire. Electrical issues are a tragedy but self inflicted idiocy is not so much.
Quit trying to blame the U.S. for this. Contrary to popular belief, we have not been the root cause of every evil ever perpetrated on the world in the last 100 years. Just the opposite in fact.
a bullet and a trebuchet or catapult should be enough. why expend the cost to deport? Just shoot them and launch them back into Mexico, maybe they'll take the hint that they need to regulate their borders too. Or if you want to save even more money, just finish the "wall" and hang the bodies from it as a warning like they use to do "way back when".
I love how the fire fighter is cheesing it up for the camera.
Serves them right if it was a riot fire.....if not it is no great loss in my opinion.....you bleeding heart can cry about it......
If it was in fact a riot fire what makes you think the innocent bystanders i.e. prisoners locked in their cells, non-participants deserved to die in such a fashion?
unkleremus? Should be UncleRukus as in Boondocks.
How can you have a riot when the prisoners are all locked in their cells,, that dont compute
wow! doesn't matter what kind of fire it was or what the origin of it was! EVERYBODY EVERYWHERE needs an evacuation plan!! this is terrible. i can't even imagine the pain and fear these poor people suffered. :(
PROBLEM SOLVED!!!, honduran criminals rehabilitated guaranteed 100% of the 272 deceased will NOT BE REPEAT OFFENDERS!!!
Ha! Awesome comment.
GREG as horrible as it is.
They are probably better off than those who lived.
There is NO WAY those that lived will get proper medical care. This country is the poorest of the poor. Formally British Honduras with Belize before the 1980'S.
The Brits need to step in and help these people.
And certainly it cleared out some beds.
Why should England be responsible if Honduras is a former colony of Spain? That thinking is kind of idiotic to start with. Not to mention that if the country wanted it's "freedom" from spanish rule then it would need to take responsibility for it's own governing.
If only some people would get it Chef80
You can hardly call those who would "get it" people. Primates, maybe...but people, uh uh.
The British empire owned only the Bay Islands in the north of the country, briefly, British Honduras was the former name of Belize. GB never owned any part of Honduran mainland. U probably have good intentions, please don't be as ignorant as the soulless trolls on this and other threads.
Chef80
England still has major interests in this country and they continue to be responsible for 58% of the GDP of this region
less criminals in the world leeching off the good people in the world is a good thing.
We can blame ALL of you bleeding-hearts for the exeedingly high number of criminals we have today. Any of you who feel sorry for any of the trash that persihed or is suffering from that fire should be locked up with the remainder of them! What is wrong with you people? Those low-lifes committed CRIMES, killed people raped people, etc. If you a-holes feel bad for them, bring them to your house! Let's see how long your "feelings" for garbage stays positive.
We can just as easily blame your ideology. Don't get me started.
Are there any indications that military personnel with the Joint Task Force-Bravo involved in assistance?
We need some "fires" at the US prisons to get rid of the scum.
Agree on both counts.
most criminals cross into us to conduct their criminal activity because if they get caught life in us prisons is a cake walk compared to prisons in their home countries. i doubt many of these unfortunates were high level offenders since anyone with money can buy their way out. the majority of the dead were most likely in prison for minor crimes. they did not deserve to die such a horrible death.
Agreed!
RACISTS! They let them burn just because their skin was brown! Cuz they was "Indians" (oh, wait, it wasn't in AMERICA, so they don't get to spout that hate mongering tome)
Hugo Chavez has accused the US of setting this fire with their "prison fire ray" as a rehearsal for destabilizing Venezuela's prison system ahead of the elections there. I actually thought this was a dress rehearsal for the unit containing Joran Van Der Sloot in Peru.
LMAO
Honduras government plan to thin out the over population in prison.
See this is whats wrong in America, we have sprinkler systems.
Now that comment was funny.....Cruel.....but funny!
Cruel, vicious comments.
Sara... honestly, enough with the sappy crap. Sure, it could be considered a tragedy, sure it culled the population a bit, but honestly, the entire reason OUR prison system DOESN'T work is we arn't willing to do @!$%# like this. The firemen let them burn. They reported gunshots, but no riot was reported by the head of the prison system. They most likely had orders to let it burn. We have people in our country sit on DEATH ROW for years at a time... if its death row, should they not be killed the day they are sentenced to death? Secondly shouldn't it be something that doesn't cost taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars, like fire? The squeeky wheel gets the grease and nobody squeeks as loud as a bleedy heart whiner like yourself.
The utter horror and backwardness and poverty of the 3rd world comes crashing into our consciousness in times like these.
I guess they never read the INTERNATIONAL FIRE CODE. Funny how they havent investigated the fire but they have narrowed it down to a "set" fire or "electrical problems". Always blame electrical.....geesh. (yes I'm a Fire Inspector/Investigator)
Then again, thats 357 people we don't have to worry about sneaking over our borders.
I'm all for the death penalty but they took it to the extreme.
i agree we need a few fires around here as well
Should they prosecute the prosecutors?
Best way to stop this, is kill the child molesters, rapists, and murderers BEFORE they get to a courtroom.
Would stop over populated prisons..