They’re known as “frog men,” inmates who are forced to sleep on prison floors across the Dominican Republic, often next to overflowing toilets or holes in the ground that serve as one
Dominican Republic prisons are severely overcrowded, with thousands of inmates held without charges, often sleeping on floors near unsanitary conditions. Over 60% of the 26,000 inmates are in preventive detention, with prisons operating at seven times capacity. Despite efforts to improve conditions, including a commission led by Roberto Santana, overcrowding persists, and new prisons built in the early 2000s have deteriorated. Health issues are widespread, with limited medical care, and many inmates remain detained due to backlogged court paperwork.
