MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency
Brazil top official who praised mass killings in prison uprisings resigns
The Brazilian government’s national secretary of youth has resigned after celebrating the deaths of inmates killed in prison uprisings. Youth Secretary Bruno Julio resigned Friday. Read full article
Comments
Disclaimer & comment rulesAre there any International/National Human Rights Standards for the VICTIMS of the criminals/prisoners?
Jan 09th, 2017 - 11:19 am - Link - Report abuse 0Yes, of course there are Human Rights Standards for the victims, the problem is that the Brazilian government is not capable of protecting its citizens.
Jan 09th, 2017 - 12:36 pm - Link - Report abuse 0This guy is an idiot. Firstly any politician should know that you are NEVER 'off the record'. Secondly the riots and mass killings show that the government has completely lost control of its prisons - that's not something a government minister should be celebrating. If he wants to kill off criminals he should campaign for the reintroduction of the death penalty and be honest about it, not outsource the job to gangs and organised crime, who will just gain in power and make the crime problem even worse in the future.
While he wasn't too inteligent to be caught on tape saying what he did, his words are those of most Brazilians.
Jan 09th, 2017 - 05:14 pm - Link - Report abuse 0There are 27 criminal factions in Brazil, and the 3 main ones virtually dictate the rules in the prison system. That the state governments have lost control as well as their credibility is no secret. The prison population has grown by an unprecedented rate over the last 20 years (over 500%) , and the plans for the construction of 27 maximum security prisons - one in each State - promised by Lula, never got off the paper. The inhumane conditions in the prisons has been responsible for the appearance of these factions....the State governments have just made feeble excuses for not installing cellphone blockers and many times the prison staff is in cahoots with the criminals, allowing weapons and cell phones in.
Although polls some years back showed a high rate of approval for the death penalty, the biggest obstacles to implementing it have always been the HR activists, always backed by the Church....yet they have no alternative, or anything positive to offer.
For the hard-boiled; it pays to be a criminal - considering their rights - the benefits including health-care, child-care, uses of mobile phones & drones and even the 'intimacy visits' - and also the support [from various national & international organizations].
Jan 09th, 2017 - 05:46 pm - Link - Report abuse 0@JB
Jan 09th, 2017 - 10:55 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Any chance of the new prisons being built now? I'm surprised no one has started privatising prisons like in the US, actually. That would allow for a lot more profits at the tax payers' expense and more kickbacks for the government. I suppose they have enough of those already though.
Also, I'm not used to state vs federal governments. Do all the states have separate police and prisons? Do they all raise their own money through taxes, and are some richer than others and therefore provide better services? Do all the states have the same problems with crime and overcrowded prisons?
Is crime really 500% worse than 20 years ago, I thought it had been bad for a long time?
You look like you've been murdering a few Donuts Bruno...
Jan 10th, 2017 - 05:21 pm - Link - Report abuse -1@DT
Jan 10th, 2017 - 05:43 pm - Link - Report abuse 0After the grim reminder of how obsolete and inefficient the prison system is, the federal government has woken up and has announced, besides a few emergency measures, that a some new max-securiry penitentiaries will be built....remains to be seen.
The Manaus prison administration was privatized, however both sides are blaming each other for the massacre ; the company alleges their responsibilty stops short internal security (as the prison staff did not carry guns), claiming it is the State's responsibility. Presume the contract, signed between both parties, should clarify that...it has now come out that it was just another big source of corruption, to benefit both the company and State officials...it's also been discovered that the company did not have the required Federally issued licence to provide such services... sounds stinky, isn't it ?
All States have their own, independent police forces, divided into civil (in charge of investigations) and military police (uniformed, in charge of patrolling the streets, and repression) ; they all maintain their own prison system (some far worse than others) with State taxes, but can exceptionally receive Federal funds in moments like these.; there are only 2 or 3 Federal max-security penitentiaries. Most prisons are overcrowded - to at least double their capacity ; only the State of Espírito Santo doesn't have this problem. In the north and northeastern States (the poorest) the prisons are a complete shambles. About a year ago, they “mistakenly” locked up a 15 yr old girl in the men's pavillion...no need to tell you what happened. Today, crime IS worse, but what's grown over 500 % is the prison population, from 90,000 in 1990, to 700,000, 26 years later. Obviously, these numbers do not account for those who should be behind bars, but are instead roaming the streets...
@JB
Jan 11th, 2017 - 12:25 am - Link - Report abuse 0I should have known they would already be doing everything I suggested and more. Is there anything in Brazil isn't corrupt, and actually works the way it is supposed to?
I guess having the prison staff carry guns would make it easy for the prisoners to grab one, but they probably already have them if there is that much smuggling. We've been having problems with prisons in the UK due to budget cuts, but this really puts them into perspective.
If crime hasn't increased 500% then why has the prison population grown so fast? Are they trying to deal with the crime by handing out longer sentences? It doesn't seem to be working, if so.
What a truly disgusting posse this Temer administration is revealed to be!
Jan 11th, 2017 - 03:27 am - Link - Report abuse 0REF: “The absence of a criminal and prison policies in Brazil”:
Jan 11th, 2017 - 08:37 am - Link - Report abuse 0Similar to “Guantanamo”; Brazil can finalize the treaties with a few countries in the Middle East to accept the Brazilian prisoners to imprison them in those countries.
@DT
Jan 11th, 2017 - 04:52 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Good question (is there anything in Brazil that isn't corrupt ?) ...the simple answer is, anywhere that there are public funds being manipulated, there is corruption. 100% certain.
The inmates already had several firearms (and machetes) , smuggled in to the prison days before, under the nose of the prison administrator (“Umanizzare”), and with their acquiescence.
I suppose that the increase in crime goes hand-in-hand with the increase in the prison population, but the numbers I gave you refer to the latter, as that is an easily verifiable stat. Considering that many crimes are not solved, i.e., the perps aren't caught / don't go to jail, it might be safe to say that criminality has increased at a faster rate than the prison population. Nothing comforting to know that it's probably safer inside a prison than outside...as shown by the fact that for every murdered inmate, 165 people - innocent and not innocent - are killed outside.
The govt is talking about changing the laws to permit harsher sentences, but surprisingly enough, you get groups lobbying against it (HR), alleging that “it's not fair to deprive a person of their freedom for so long...”....the obvious retort, which they conveniently ignore, is, “what about the victims ?”
@Hippy
You lost a good opportunity to keep your mouth shut....Temer has been in power for just over 120 days....criminality saw it's largest surge over the last 15 years....during the last four PT governments....suppose you're gonna say that's just a coincidence....
@JB
Jan 12th, 2017 - 12:09 am - Link - Report abuse 0I guess it's not so surprising the inmates can get things smuggled in, they probably have mobile phones, drugs etc even when they are not rioting. We recently had headlines here in the UK saying drugs etc were being smuggled into prisons using drones, and the cutbacks meant there were not enough guards to watch out for them. It's probably easier just to bribe the guards in Brazil though.
Your stat doesn't show that it's safer inside a prison, unless more than 1 in 165 people are in jail (which is not true in Brazil, although it actually is in the USA). I just looked up some figures, and estimate that people in jail are over 3 times more likely to be murdered than those outside, despite the guards and whatever security they have.
Who are these people who object to longer sentences anyway? Do you have a link I can look at? I'd like to see what they are actually saying so I can understand why they think it's a bad idea.
I'm going away for a few days now so I may not be able to reply.
@DT
Jan 12th, 2017 - 08:48 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Ok, admittedly, the ratio of 165 people killed outside, for every inmate (killed inside), is misleading in terms of being safer (in or outside), but it's a valid comparison in that, while the murder of an inmate seems to cause so much distress in the HR community, the murder of 165 innocent people and not-yet-arrested perps, outside, is taken in their stride, or simply ignored...a 'slight' inversion of values...
Those who object to longer prison sentences are exactly the liberals and the people from HR....proof that their concern is with the criminals. Sorry, I have no link, nor have I looked for one, the basis of my claim is what I see in the papers and/or see just about every day on TV....the HR activists holding vigils outside the prisons, interviews with HR - in which they 'lament' the bad treatment of inmates - a few demaguogue (PT) politicians actually going inside the prisons, to stay with the prisoners, to ensure their 'physical integrity'...to make sure the police don't 'hurt' them.....and never, even once, any mention of the victims...probably because they are dead and as far as HR's are concerned, they don't matter any more.
Have a good trip.
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