{"id":15662,"date":"2019-01-21T17:52:13","date_gmt":"2019-01-21T17:52:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/conectas.org\/?post_type=noticia&p=15662"},"modified":"2021-04-05T20:09:17","modified_gmt":"2021-04-05T20:09:17","slug":"organisations-condemn-dorias-veto-of-a-bill-to-fight-torture-in-sao-paulo-prisons","status":"publish","type":"noticia","link":"https:\/\/conectas.org\/en\/noticias\/organisations-condemn-dorias-veto-of-a-bill-to-fight-torture-in-sao-paulo-prisons\/","title":"Organisations condemn Doria\u2019s veto of a bill to fight torture in Sao Paulo prisons","content":"

On Monday 21 January, approximately 50 civil society organisations published a joint letter condemning the S\u00e3o Paulo governor, Jo\u00e3o D\u00f3ria\u2019s veto of a bill for the creation of a project aimed at combatting the practice of torture in S\u00e3o Paulo prisons.<\/p>\n

The bill 1557\/2014, to set up the State Committee for the Prevention and Combat of Torture in the State of S\u00e3o Paulo, had been approved by the State Legislative Assembly (Alesp) at the end of 2018 and just required the sanction of the Executive.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe perpetration of torture and physical and psychological maltreatment, in detention centres is a systemic practice that is constantly being condemned on the national and international arenas by victims and their families and by human rights organisations, without, however, any effective policy to revert the situation.\u201d Quoted by the institutions signing the document.<\/p>\n

S\u00e3o Paulo is the state with the highest number of people deprived of freedom in Brazil -around 220 thousand people. The proposal to create a State Committee for the Prevention and Combat of Torture in the State of S\u00e3o Paulo was in line with a federal law that sets out a national system on the subject. The creation of state committees is the first step towards making the system function properly. These bodies are made up of civil society organisations and government representatives who, among other responsibilities, select a group of specialists \u2013 a so-called mechanism to prevent and combat torture \u2013 with the autonomy to inspect prisons and present reports.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen vetoing the proposal, Governor Jo\u00e3o Doria adopted an erroneous interpretation on the work of the Legislative Power and also disregarded the long, wide-ranged public debate surrounding the presentation of the bill and its approval.\u201d Reads an extract of the letter.<\/p>\n