UN calls for prompt peacekeeping at Maranhão prison

Criado em 09/01/14 09h54 e atualizado em 09/01/14 09h56
Por Carolina Sarres Fonte:Agência Brasil

Brasília – The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) issued a statement on Wednesday (Jan. 8) urging Brazilian authorities to act promptly to restore order in Pedrinhas penitentiary in São Luís, capital of Maranhão, Northeast Brazil. A prison crisis has been going on there since last year, only to become worse in recent weeks.

The UN agency regretted “having to, once again, express concern at the dire state of prisons in Brazil”. In a statement, it also recommended that efforts be made to reduce overcrowding in Brazilian prisons – not only in Maranhão – and to give inmates decent living conditions.

On the killings in Pedrinhas penitentiary, the High Commissioner urged “a prompt, impartial and effective investigation”.

In December 2013, President Dilma Rousseff enacted the National System to Prevent and Combat Torture, and said Brazilian authorities will not accept such practices against any citizen. The Secretariat for Human Rights of the Presidency of the Republic (SDH/PR) issued a statement on Tuesday (Jan. 7) repudiating violence in Maranhão.

This week, public prosecution called on the state government to request federal security reinforcements to control the situation, and the Prosecutor General, Rodrigo Janot, is considering calling the federal government's intervention in the state's prisons.

Amnesty International also expressed concern about the prison crisis.

Edited by Davi Oliveira / Lícia Marques
Translated by Mayra Borges