PRISONERS AT BOGOTA'S LA MODELO PRISON STAGE ROOFTOP PROTEST, 1999-10-16 (photo)

TO ACCOMPANY STORY BC-COLOMBIA-PRISONS - Colombian prisoners, accompanied by relatives, stage a rooftop protest at Bogota's la Modelo prison to call for better prison conditions and a reduction in their sentences to mark the new millennium. Colombia's 165 prisons were built for 32,000 but currently house more than 47,000. Overcrowding is seen as one of the main factors behind rampant violence in the prison system. Official prison rights are few and far between and inmates have to buy or bribe their way into less crowded cells and can purchase anything from illegal alcohol to guns, drugs and even a hurried sex session with a prostitute on the prison's black market. Picture taken 11OCT99. JMG/ZDC