UN Human Rights Council discusses Brazil's overcrowded prisons

Overcrowding in Brazilian prisons is among the issues to be discussed at the 31st regular session of the United Nations Human Rights Council this Tuesday (Mar. 8) in Geneva. The UN special rapporteur on torture, Juan E. Méndez, will take the opportunity to present the report on his August 2015 visit to Brazil.

The document covers such issues as prison overcrowding, which creates tension and builds an atmosphere of violence in which physical and psychological abuse become the norm.

Méndez found that in most detention facilities visited, severe overcrowding—in some cases, almost three times beyond capacity—leads to chaotic conditions, which “greatly impacts the living conditions of inmates and their access to food, drinking water, health care, family visits, legal defence, psychosocial support, and work and education opportunities, as well as sun, fresh air and recreation.”

The report goes on to cover interviews with inmates who complained about torture and ill-treatment by police. “[The country] lacks a robust policy to address the practice of torture, and [with] the failure to ensure accountability the situation tends to continue, and even worsen, both in numbers and severity,” said Méndez.

The rapporteur acknowledged federal government initiatives, including the National Mechanism for the Prevention of Torture, but stressed “the urgent need for genuine efforts to ensure nationwide implementation of the safeguards offered by these institutions and procedures.”

He also expressed concern with proposals to lower the age of criminal liability and extend the maximum juvenile detention period from the current three years to ten years. In his opinion, such steps will only worsen the conditions in Brazil's prisons.

The UN Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment came to Brazil on a 12-day official mission in 2015, when he made unannounced visits to places of detention such as police stations, remand centers, prisons, juvenile detention centers, and mental health facilities. He was in Brasília, São Paulo, Sergipe, Alagoas, and Maranhão, where he consulted with federal and state officials, government agencies, civil society organizations and victims' associations.

Translated by Mayra Borges