Blog 5: Gang War in Brazil’s Pedrinhas jail kills 13
In
Pedrinhas prison which is in Sao Luis, the state of Maranhao, a riot broke out
killing 13 inmates as well as injuring 30. The prison is suffering from being
extremely over crowded. The riot started when the guards were tipped off that
60 of the inmates were digging a tunnel under the prison and were planning to
escape at dawn. While the guards were trying to fight their way in to the cell entrance,
some of the prisoners started a fire and rivals of gangs took that advantage to
settle scores during all the confusion.
Outside of the prison, family members were waiting to hear information
about what was going on. The prison called Pedrinhas is notorious in gang
warfare. Earlier this month another three inmates were killed with one of them
being decapitated; another was electrocuted in light cables that were placed in
the tunnel they were planning to use for the escape. The Brazilian Minister of
Justice, Jose Eduardo Cardozo said that Brazil had, “ a medieval prison system,
which not only violates human right but does not allow for the most important
element of a penal sanction, which is social reintegration.” (bbc.co.uk). With
the increase of the number of detainees, the officials are having a hard time
keeping pace which makes it hard for them to improve conditions within the
jails; despite the new buildings for the prison.
Not
only does this article go against the human rights of many inmates that have
come to call the Pedrinhas prison home, but just hearing that the prisons in
Brazil have a medieval system goes against human moral, on what is wrong and
what is right. We all know that gang violence is a big issue in all prisons
across the world, you can see it just by walking through a prison, but to have
the prison system so far behind does not help with any of the problems. Brazil
is an up and coming place in the world and with the increase of inmates that
they have going to jail, one would think that they would make the prison more accommodating
to the situations at hand. When hearing that the prisons have a medieval
system, making someone wonder what exactly are the conditions that these people
who are in jail are staying in. We can tell by the fact that there were 60
inmates that were digging a tunnel under one of the cells, that the amount of
inmates to guards is a huge difference. Around the world the problems with
prisons having inhumane conditions is unbelievable, but at the very same time
we have to also look at the different countries that have these very
conditions. As people who all live on this Earth we should be able to help the
countries with their prisons and make it more humane.
Lindsay Gebbia
10/14/13
10:30 p.m.
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