{"id":41203,"date":"2025-11-10T21:40:18","date_gmt":"2025-11-10T21:40:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/conectas.org\/?post_type=noticia&p=41203"},"modified":"2025-12-04T12:50:58","modified_gmt":"2025-12-04T12:50:58","slug":"stj-brings-investigation-into-crimes-at-the-pedrinhas-complex-to-the-federal-level","status":"publish","type":"noticia","link":"https:\/\/conectas.org\/en\/noticias\/stj-brings-investigation-into-crimes-at-the-pedrinhas-complex-to-the-federal-level\/","title":"STJ brings investigation into crimes at the Pedrinhas complex to the federal level","content":"

The Superior Court of Justice (STJ, acronym in Portuguese) unanimously decided to transfer the investigation into severe human rights violations perpetrated between 2013 and 2014 at the Pedrinhas Prison Complex, in S\u00e3o Lu\u00eds (MA), to the Federal Justice system. The measure, known as a displacement of jurisdiction, was requested by the Federal Attorney\u2019s Office (PGR, <\/span>Procuradoria-Geral da Rep\u00fablica<\/span><\/i>) after receiving a request from the Maranh\u00e3o Society of Human Rights, Justice Global, and Conectas Direitos Humanos, who filed petitions for interim measures in the case at the Inter-American Court of Human Rights.<\/span><\/p>\n

The case is one of the most representative instances of the structural crisis faced by the Brazilian prison system. Between January 2013 and early 2014, 63 people were killed inside the complex, which led to an intervention by the National Public Security Force and the concession of interim measures by the Inter-American Court, given the inability of the Brazilian government to protect the life and integrity of the individuals deprived of liberty that were detained there.<\/span><\/p>\n

According to the PGR, state authorities were ineffective when it came to investigating the violations, which gave cause to the request for federalization \u2013 described in article 109, \u00a75 of the Federal Constitution, which allows the Federal Government to act in cases of severe human rights violations and where there is a risk of non-compliance with Brazil\u2019s international obligations.<\/span><\/p>\n

During the session deciding on the Incident of Displacement of Jurisdiction (IDC, acronym in Portuguese) no. 31\/MA, the rapporteur, justice Rogerio Schietti Cruz, highlighted the structural character of the violations and the need for an institutional response. According to Cruz, the country must offer an \u201ceffective and prompt response, correctly investigating these crimes, an embarrassment to our nation, in a timely manner\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n

The decision represents progress in the quest for justice and accountability in cases of state-perpetrated violence. Since the creation of the IDC by Constitutional Amendment no. 45\/2004 (Judiciary Reform), only one other case had been federalized \u2013 the murder of human rights defender Manoel Bezerra de Mattos, in 2010, which also had Justi\u00e7a Global participating as amicus curiae.<\/span><\/p>\n

To Monique Cruz, coordinator of Justi\u00e7a Global, the decision reinforces the need to mitigate the impunity that is a blight on the Brazilian prison system. \u201cThe devaluation of life continues to be the main characteristic of the penitentiary system in Maranh\u00e3o and nationwide. Cases of torture, mistreatment, and deaths resulting from inhumane conditions continue to occur without proper investigation. Federalization is an important step, and it must be reverberated into a more emphatic action by the State\u201d, she says.<\/span><\/p>\n

This last October 21<\/span>st<\/span>, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights carried out a closed audit in Bras\u00edlia on the case. The petitioning organizations presented updated information on the conditions at Pedrinhas and the persistent challenges to ensure the integrity of the detained individuals.<\/span><\/p>\n

The decision by the STJ reinforces Brazil\u2019s international commitments to secure the right to truth, justice and reparation for victims of violations in the prison system, creating conditions for an independent and effective investigation into the crimes perpetrated in Maranh\u00e3o.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>

<\/div>","excerpt":"

The Superior Court of Justice (STJ, acronym in Portuguese) unanimously decided to transfer the investigation into severe human rights violations perpe…<\/p>\n","author":26,"featured_media":41137,"parent":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"tema":[12270],"class_list":["post-41203","noticia","type-noticia","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tema-confronting-institutional-violence"],"acf":{"subtitle-pt":"Decision recognizes failures in the state-level system and responds to a request from the Federal Attorney\u2019s Office initiated by the Maranh\u00e3o Society of Human Rights, Justi\u00e7a Global, and Conectas ","links_para_referencia":false,"author":false},"yoast":{"focuskw":"Pedrinhas","title":"","metadesc":"Decision recognizes failures in the state-level system and responds to a request from the Federal Attorney\u2019s Office initiated","linkdex":"64","metakeywords":"","meta-robots-noindex":"","meta-robots-nofollow":"","meta-robots-adv":"","canonical":"","redirect":"","opengraph-title":"","opengraph-description":"","opengraph-image":"","twitter-title":"","twitter-description":"","twitter-image":""},"featured_image":{"original":"https:\/\/conectas.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/RS1232_2E9A5444-1-scr.jpg","thumbnail":"https:\/\/conectas.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/RS1232_2E9A5444-1-scr-150x150.jpg","medium":"https:\/\/conectas.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/RS1232_2E9A5444-1-scr-966x644.jpg","medium_large":"https:\/\/conectas.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/RS1232_2E9A5444-1-scr-768x512.jpg","large":"https:\/\/conectas.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/RS1232_2E9A5444-1-scr-1024x683.jpg","1536x1536":"https:\/\/conectas.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/RS1232_2E9A5444-1-scr.jpg","2048x2048":"https:\/\/conectas.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/RS1232_2E9A5444-1-scr.jpg","post_slider_img":"https:\/\/conectas.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/RS1232_2E9A5444-1-scr-350x233.jpg","storyform_xlarge":"https:\/\/conectas.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/RS1232_2E9A5444-1-scr-1152x768.jpg","storyform_xxlarge":"https:\/\/conectas.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/RS1232_2E9A5444-1-scr.jpg","storyform_xxxlarge":"https:\/\/conectas.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/RS1232_2E9A5444-1-scr.jpg","noticia":"https:\/\/conectas.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/RS1232_2E9A5444-1-scr-1140x760.jpg"},"terms":{"acoes_categorias":[],"acoes_tags":[],"category":[{"term_id":7,"name":"News","slug":"news","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":7,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":1519,"filter":"raw","term_order":"0","permalink":"https:\/\/conectas.org\/en\/category\/news\/","relative_link":"category\/news\/","langs":{"en":"news","br":"noticia-conectas"}}],"post_tag":[]},"author_name":"Gabriel Guerra","author_nicename":"gabriel-guerra","protected":false,"langs":{"en":"stj-brings-investigation-into-crimes-at-the-pedrinhas-complex-to-the-federal-level","br":"stj-federaliza-investigacao-sobre-crimes-no-complexo-de-pedrinhas"},"permalink":"https:\/\/conectas.org\/en\/noticias\/stj-brings-investigation-into-crimes-at-the-pedrinhas-complex-to-the-federal-level\/","relative_url":"https:\/\/conectas.org\/en\/noticias\/stj-brings-investigation-into-crimes-at-the-pedrinhas-complex-to-the-federal-level\/","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/conectas.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/noticias\/41203","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/conectas.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/noticias"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/conectas.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/noticia"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/conectas.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/26"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/conectas.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41203"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/conectas.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/41137"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/conectas.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41203"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/conectas.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41203"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/conectas.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41203"},{"taxonomy":"tema","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/conectas.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tema?post=41203"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}