Brazil gov’t makes prison construction rules flexible

Brazil’s National Council for Criminal and Penitentiary Policy changed the rules for the construction of prisons. The decision is an answer to the request made by the National Council of Secretaries of Justice, Human Rights and Penitentiary Administration, a forum made up of leaders linked to the topic at state level.

The change gives state governments more leeway in their parameters and measures for areas such as classrooms, parking lots, and offices when projects are designed and construction works carried out. Lower or special measures will have to be justified.

Under the new rules, state authorities “can devise their own architectural projects, with special architectural solutions, considering factors inherent to local prison circumstances, provided that the rights of those deprived of liberty and prison workers are preserved.”

According to the Ministry of Justice, the move was carried out at the request of the state government representatives, who claimed that former building requirements were too strict and would make addressing the problems facing the prison system even more difficult. Nearly 360 thousand new beds would be required for Brazil’s 726 thousand inmates.

No rules regarding individual and collective cells, courts for sunbathing, showers, and health modules have been altered.

Funding

The Ministry of Justice announced that late in 2016 a total $360 million from the National Penitentiary Fund was to be granted to state governments ($13.4 million each). Of this amount, $9.6 million is earmarked for construction works, and the remainder for equipment, training, and surveillance.

As for Brazil’s 2018 budget, the amount is expected to total $182.4 million, according to official information. The value is lower than the $360 million earmarked late in 2016. The distribution will be made differently—this time based on the demand in each state rather than equal payments.

A setback

Paulo Malvezzi, legal adviser at the National Prison Pastoral, describes the decision as a setback as it changes the way prison units are built. Malvezzi argues that people’s rights are not being enforced in prison units across the country.

“The state still has to comply with rules on rights and duties of inmates—such as health care, material, legal, educational, social, and religious assistance. But it’s of little use to have space for education when cells are overcrowded and rights violated,” he argued.

Translated by Fabrício Ferreira