The shift in leadership also followed a controversial decision Wednesday absolving several guards of the death of inmate Johel Araya in 2011 at the same prison.
The Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court, known as the Sala IV, revealed that over 30 prisoners incarcerated in the La Reforma maximum-security prison claimed to have been beaten and mistreated by penitentiary guards.
For an administration that was largely weighed down by scandal and perceived mismanagement, public security has ended up as President Laura Chinchilla’s most likely legacy for Costa Rica.
Harsh prison conditions, domestic abuse, and human trafficking were among the top concerns the United States State Department’s 2013 Human Rights Practices report found in Costa Rica.
President Laura Chinchilla signed a bill into law Tuesday establishing a mechanism to implement the United Nations' Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture.
