Barbadillo: The prison holding three former presidents of Peru

On the outskirts of Lima, Peru, stands a prison facility like no other. Its latest inmate transferred last month is a former president, like all others who have been imprisoned in Barbadillo.

Five former presidents of Peru have been imprisoned in Barbadillo, a police headquarter which slowly transformed and adapted to be informally known as a facility to exclusively incarcerate those who once governed the country.

Martin Vizcarra, president of Peru between 2018-2020, did a stint of 22 days in the confines of Barbadillo before his sentence was overturned and he was released on Thursday.

A day after Vizcarra's sentence was overturned, another president received a second sentence to stay in Barbadillo.

Alejandro Toledo, who governed Peru between 2001-2006, was sentenced to 13 years in prison in a case involving Brazilian construction giant Odebrecht.

Presidents Alejandro Toledo (2001-2006), Ollanta Humala (2011-2016) and Pedro Castillo (2021-2022) are Barbadillo’s current dwellers.

The prison also housed former President Alberto Fujimori (1990-2000) for 16 years on charges of human rights abuses before his eventual pardon and release in 2023.

Not a gilded prison

Barbadillo's revolving doors are held tight against public scrutiny.

Peruvians can only wonder about this special punishment, treatment or privileges which half a dozen of their former leaders may endure, considering the facility is not formally considered a prison.

With an official capacity of two, but with potential to be adapted to hold up to four inmates, Barbadillo prison is made up of two 800 square meter ‘cells’, each equipped with a bedroom, kitchen, dining room and garden.

“It’s a prison where you won’t necessarily see bars on windows,” says Wilfredo Pedraza, a former president of Peru’s National Penitentiary Institute and current lawyer for Humala.

But Pedraza insists: “it's far from a gilded prison. In fact, it's not.”

Vizcarra was able to make live TikToks from the prison, where he described entering his "cell" and seeing only a mattress, bed frame and couch.

He said his private bathroom had no hot water but that he did have access to a living room.

He told viewers that on his first night fellow inmate Castillo brought him fruit and a blanket while the two other presidential prisoners Toledo and Humala had food delivered to them from beyond Barbadillo’s walls.

Not a normal prison, either

During his 16-year long stint in Barbadillo, former president Fujimori meanwhile is said to have enjoyed painting Andean landscapes, listening to music, writing his memoires and tending to plants in his garden.

In 2023, Fujimori was sighted at a dental clinic outside the prison. The prison agency admitted that he had been leaving the grounds for “several years”.

Fujimori was sentenced to 25 years in prison in 2009 in connection with the slayings of 25 Peruvians by death squads in the 1990s. He was released from Barbadillo’s confines aged 85 on humanitarian grounds due to old age and ill health.

Pedraza said: “Perhaps the only benefit is that their space is more generous, relatively. They have bedrooms that are about four by four meters. So, apart from that internal space, which I think is reasonable, they have nothing that other prisoners in the country don't, and they don't have a different way of life.”

Pedraza adds that the presidential inmates have no additional privileges.

“I have not seen areas with luxury finishes or carpets, or any other product that could be considered sumptuous or to be providing comfort to anyone," he said.