Overcrowding

• In 1990, a study by Human Rights Watch asserted that overcrowding at Lurigancho had led to food shortages, with prisoners being given 8 grams of rice and two pieces of bread as a daily ration. Prisoners were said to have trapped animals to round out their diet.
  
  

Security

• In the mid-1980s, Peruvian authorities decided to segregate members of the Shining Path insurgent guerrillas from other prisoners, following a riot in Ayacucho Prison that had freed most of the inmates there. This decision allowed the Shining Path members to form organized groups. Riots at the Lurigancho, Santa Barbara and El Fronton prisons in 1986 killed over 300 prisoners.
  
  

Health

• Overcrowding has affected inmates' health. Tuberculosis is rife in the prison, according to the Red Cross, and to make matters worse, inmates are reluctant to mention it when they are infected, in order to retain their family visiting privileges. As a result, afflicted inmates can infect family members during visits, and the disease is carried beyond the prison walls and becomes a health concern for the surrounding area.
  
  

Guards

• In addition to the overcrowding, the guards' training and behavior is often criticized. This is particularly true of the riots that took place in three Peruvian prisons on June 18, 1986. Observers still debate whether the Lorigancho riots on that day were sparked because the guards refused to let visitors in, even though it was visiting day.