Brazil reinstates national system against prison torture

Physical and psychological torture practices targeting inmates; starvation; unsanitary conditions; banned visitation; discrimination against detainees’ family members, especially women; lack of educational activities; death of detainees and young people in detention; never-ending pretrial detentions; containers used as cells; and the transfer of detainees to districts far from their social environment and family—these were some of the human rights violations assailing the Brazilian prison system reported at the meeting marking the return of the National System to Prevent and Combat Torture. The meeting was held by the Ministry of Human Rights and Citizenship in Brasília on Friday (Jun. 23).

Brazil’s Minister of Human Rights and Citizenship Silvio Almeida said the circumstances do not surprise him, but can be appalling because they are illegal humanitarian offenses. “There is no law in Brazil allowing things like this to happen,” he said.

“A person in the penitentiary system is under the custody of the state, so they need to be treated with dignity. Regardless of the crime they have committed, they must be treated in accordance with the law. Therefore, leaving someone to starve, extending the sentence to family members, this is in contravention of the law, and goes against international conventions to which Brazil is a signatory,” Minister Almeida added.

He also pointed out that the attention to the penitentiary policy was recommended by President Lula himself, adding that the fundamental topics are repression to the torture in its several forms, legal ways to decrease incarceration, and better working conditions for professionals working in penitentiary facilities.

Goals

Four goals to guide the meetings and address national problems were set during the assembly: discussion on the methodology for protocols and inspection forms in prison institutions; reduction of prison population through commuted sentences and pardon, for instance; stimulus to team efforts with inmates’ professional skills; and census with data diagnosis.

Magistrate Judge Tiago Sulzbach, with the National Council of Justice, stated the institution has been conducting prison inspections since 2008 to guarantee fundamental rights, and has worked in partnership with the federal government. The so-called custody hearings, which take place 24 hours after arrests in flagrante delicto, have helped reduce prison population, he went on to note. “Surely, the broad implementation of custody hearings in the judiciary have helped us in this direction,” he argued.

Federal Public Defender Carolina Castro pointed out that the move to bring back the anti-torture system represents the return of the rule of law in Brazil. She listed experiences recounted by inmates and stressed they are not seeking privileges, but rather “the execution of criminal law.”