Inmates running the asylum? In Honduras prisons, that's no joke

CNN — They hand out food, issue fines, punish offenders and have their own set of keys.

It sounds like a guard's job. But in prisons throughout Honduras, a new report says, it's the inmates who are in charge.

"Internal control of the prisons has been ceded into the hands of the prisoners themselves," the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights said in a report released last week, claiming the situation has spread through all 24 of the nation's prisons and is one of the most serious problems the country faces.

The Honduran government doesn't deny it.

As he ordered troops into one prison after clashes erupted there on Saturday, President Porfirio Lobo called it an "unacceptable situation" and acknowledged that a "reign of crime from within" plagues the country's prison system.

At a meeting on Monday, he said, government security officials will present proposals to end the criminal reign.

In the meantime, prisoners are reportedly running facilities throughout the country. And last week's report from the Organization of American States' commission details how they do it. continue reading...