Prisoners wounded in another occupation at Pedrinhas prison

Hundreds of security agents have taken control of the complex in Maranhão; families claim dozens are wounded

The stage of one of the worst crises in the Brazilian prison system in 2013, the Pedrinhas prison complex in the state of Maranhão is once again the epicenter of a new wave of violence. Following a prison riot on Saturday, September 24, and attacks on buses this Tuesday, Thursday and Friday in the streets of the capital São Luís and other cities in the state, the government announced that 700 security agents have occupied the units of the prison complex. According to reports by relatives of prisoners, dozens of inmates have been wounded – at least one after a lethal weapon was fired.

The upsurge in violence coincided with an inspection of the complex by three organizations responsible for a complaint that is pending in the Inter-American Court of Human Rights of the OAS.

In 2014, in response to Brazil’s disregard for the precautionary measures issued in 2013 by the IACHR (Inter-American Commission on Human Rights), the Court issued provisional measures requiring the Brazilian State to respect the physical integrity of the inmates and personnel at the complex.

On September 27 and 28, representatives from SMDH (Maranhão Society of Human Rights), Conectas and Justiça Global visited the São Luís Rehabilitation Facilities 1, 2, 3 and 6 and COCT (Observation, Classification and Triage Center) and encountered non-compliance with these international requirements.

On Friday afternoon, the organizations submitted an urgent petition notifying the Court about the escalation of violence and denouncing the use of physical and psychological torture as a means of controlling the prison population, in addition to the overcrowding and lack of medical treatment. The document described “a veritable chaos, which mirrors the situation outside the walls of the complex”.

According to the organizations, the appalling treatment of prisoners and their relatives was the cause of Saturday’s riot and the wave of violence that has spread through the capital over the past few days. They said the government’s decision to occupy the complex has only made the situation worse.

“As we can see, the Maranhão state government has not grasped the scale and severity of the situation, nor, more importantly, its essential role in the defense of the life and safety of not just thousands of detainees and their families, but also of the security agents, since it has further escalated tensions,” reads the document.

The organizations asked the Court to urgently request explanations from the Brazilian government and to recommend that the state authorities take “decisive action to preserve the life of the detainees, their families and the public security agents”.

Similar documents were sent to the Ministry of Justice’s Human Rights Office, the CNPCP (National Criminal and Prison Policy Council) and the PFDC (Federal Attorney General’s Office for the Rights of the Citizen).

Click here to read the full document sent to the Inter-American Court.

Background

A series of riots that erupted in November and December of 2013 in Pedrinhas, which resulted in the deaths of 22 prisoners, led the SMDH (Maranhão Society of Human Rights) and the OAB-MA (State Bar of Maranhão) to engage the IACHR (Inter-American Commission on Human Rights of the OAS), the region’s most important human rights monitoring and promotion body. Conectas and Justiça Global were admitted as co-petitioners in the case some months later.

On December 16, 2013, the Commission issued a precautionary measure requiring Brazil to take immediate action to prevent new violations at the prison complex or risk facing international condemnation. According to the precautionary measure, Brazil needed to:

• • adopt the necessary and effective measures to prevent further loss of life and damage to the physical integrity of the prisoners;

• • immediately reduce overcrowding;

• • investigate the facts reported by the organizations that led the Commission to adopt these measures.

Since the case was first presented to the Commission, a delegation formed by lawyers, social workers, psychologists and journalists has made unannounced inspection visits to the prisons of the Pedrinhas complex and drafted reports on the detention conditions there. These reports are sent to the OAS and used as counter-arguments to the mandatory periodic responses submitted by the Brazilian government. Given the inaction by the authorities, in November 2014 the IACHR submitted the case to the Inter-American Court, which reinforced the earlier recommendations using its provisional measures.