23 September 1999 Edition
The scandal of Brazil's prisons
BY SOLEDAD GALIANA
Ronaldo, Rio de Janeiro, salsa music, rainforest and beaches are the most popular images of Brazil. But there is a very dark side to this picture postcard perspective on Brazilian reality.
The International Monetary Fund and the World Bank backed the reelection campaign of the current Brazilian president, Fernando Henrique Cardoso. These institutions considered him the only candidate able to maintain a steady economy that would favour the growth of international investment in the country. But his successful reelection couldn't stop an economic crisis in the country which has shattered the expectations of the economic moguls.
``It is only the poor who go to prison,'' explains Father Günther, on a recent visit to Dublin to meet with Amnesty International officials
On 26 August, more than 100,000 people demonstrated in the capital city, Brasilia, calling for a shift in the government's policy. A year into his second term, Cardoso has disappointed not only the international markets, but also the hopes of some sections of the population. Others, such as those living in the favelas, makeshift buildings of cardboard occupied by whole families who try to make a living out of other people's rubbish, did not expect any better.
In the last three years, and as a consequence of the economic crisis, Brazil's prison population has increased by 30 per cent. The national prison census, released and then recalled in 1998 - showed a deficit in prison places of 96,010. This deficit - 2.3 people were maintained in detention for every space in the prison system - means, in practical terms, that many states are using temporary police holding cells as long-term detention centres.
There are more than 100 of these police lock-ups in the city of São Paulo. Until 1998, half the inmates in town were serving their sentences in these police lock-ups. São Paulo also boasts the biggest detention centre in Latin America, with over 7,000 prisoners, where Father Günther Zgubic, a 60-year-old Austrian priest is working. ``I am also working in the main police investigation centre for crimes against property and in a typical overcrowded police lock-up and in the special official penitentiary, where a lot of prisoners are suffering beatings...
``Human rights have taken a back seat on Cardoso's agenda,'' says the priest, who has been working for 16 years in the Southern area of São Paulo, one of the most violent urban areas in the country, and since 1998 exclusively in prisons.
The state of São Paulo holds 40 per cent of the total inmate population of Brazil. This is explained by São Paulo being the industrial and economic centre of the country, attracting those who cannot make a living in the countryside to the city and the favelas. There, job opportunities are rare, so petty crime becomes their only way of survival. ``It is only the poor who go to prison,'' explains Father Günther, on a recent visit to Dublin to meet with Amnesty International officials.
Torture is a daily affair in the Brazilian prisons. ``We discover a lot of torture in general, but if they have a special desire to hit someone, they have these places within the prison where we cannot enter, despite that I have the permission of the judge and the Secretary of State.''
In a letter published last May, Human Rights Watch highlighted police brutality, prison conditions, violence against the landless movement and indigenous people, and the lack of legal protection for children and women as its main concerns. In contrast to Cardoso's clean international image, Human Rights Watch painted the real picture. ``This image is built upon lies,'' says Father Günther, who knows the situation well, as through his work with Brazilian inmates he has come into contact with the inhuman and degrading conditions suffered by prisoners.
A lack of interest by political authorities is a major factor in the increase of human rights abuses in the prisons and lock ups. Father Günther explains that complex state bureaucracy makes official intervention difficult. ``In São Paulo state we have a governor who is interested in changing the situation, of increasing control over the police, but typically, he hasn't the power to challenge the federal government. Police practices are part of the federal law, although they are implemented in the different states. As long as the Constitution is not changed, this will be a federal task.''
As Pastor Co-ordinator for the São Paulo region, Father Günther has the opportunity to meet with other co-ordinators at National Pastoral meetings. ``In our last Prison Pastoral meeting in June, we were informed that throughout the north and north-east, a militarisation of prison regimes is taking place. This means that police are assuming responsibility for the running of the prisons, despite the fact that this is strictly forbidden by the Brazilian Constitution and international conventions. Police should only control the outside walls and the outside life of the prison.''
Such flouting of rules and regulations is unsurprising, however, given that in the province of Minas Gerai alone, 70 to 80 per cent of prisoners spend years in police lock-ups, as there is not enough room in the official prison system for the province's inmate population.
Ronaldo, Rio de Janeiro, salsa music, rainforest and beaches are the most popular images of Brazil. But there is a very dark side to this picture postcard perspective on Brazilian reality.
The International Monetary Fund and the World Bank backed the reelection campaign of the current Brazilian president, Fernando Henrique Cardoso. These institutions considered him the only candidate able to maintain a steady economy that would favour the growth of international investment in the country. But his successful reelection couldn't stop an economic crisis in the country which has shattered the expectations of the economic moguls.
``It is only the poor who go to prison,'' explains Father Günther, on a recent visit to Dublin to meet with Amnesty International officials
On 26 August, more than 100,000 people demonstrated in the capital city, Brasilia, calling for a shift in the government's policy. A year into his second term, Cardoso has disappointed not only the international markets, but also the hopes of some sections of the population. Others, such as those living in the favelas, makeshift buildings of cardboard occupied by whole families who try to make a living out of other people's rubbish, did not expect any better.
In the last three years, and as a consequence of the economic crisis, Brazil's prison population has increased by 30 per cent. The national prison census, released and then recalled in 1998 - showed a deficit in prison places of 96,010. This deficit - 2.3 people were maintained in detention for every space in the prison system - means, in practical terms, that many states are using temporary police holding cells as long-term detention centres.
There are more than 100 of these police lock-ups in the city of São Paulo. Until 1998, half the inmates in town were serving their sentences in these police lock-ups. São Paulo also boasts the biggest detention centre in Latin America, with over 7,000 prisoners, where Father Günther Zgubic, a 60-year-old Austrian priest is working. ``I am also working in the main police investigation centre for crimes against property and in a typical overcrowded police lock-up and in the special official penitentiary, where a lot of prisoners are suffering beatings...
``Human rights have taken a back seat on Cardoso's agenda,'' says the priest, who has been working for 16 years in the Southern area of São Paulo, one of the most violent urban areas in the country, and since 1998 exclusively in prisons.
The state of São Paulo holds 40 per cent of the total inmate population of Brazil. This is explained by São Paulo being the industrial and economic centre of the country, attracting those who cannot make a living in the countryside to the city and the favelas. There, job opportunities are rare, so petty crime becomes their only way of survival. ``It is only the poor who go to prison,'' explains Father Günther, on a recent visit to Dublin to meet with Amnesty International officials.
Torture is a daily affair in the Brazilian prisons. ``We discover a lot of torture in general, but if they have a special desire to hit someone, they have these places within the prison where we cannot enter, despite that I have the permission of the judge and the Secretary of State.''
In a letter published last May, Human Rights Watch highlighted police brutality, prison conditions, violence against the landless movement and indigenous people, and the lack of legal protection for children and women as its main concerns. In contrast to Cardoso's clean international image, Human Rights Watch painted the real picture. ``This image is built upon lies,'' says Father Günther, who knows the situation well, as through his work with Brazilian inmates he has come into contact with the inhuman and degrading conditions suffered by prisoners.
A lack of interest by political authorities is a major factor in the increase of human rights abuses in the prisons and lock ups. Father Günther explains that complex state bureaucracy makes official intervention difficult. ``In São Paulo state we have a governor who is interested in changing the situation, of increasing control over the police, but typically, he hasn't the power to challenge the federal government. Police practices are part of the federal law, although they are implemented in the different states. As long as the Constitution is not changed, this will be a federal task.''
As Pastor Co-ordinator for the São Paulo region, Father Günther has the opportunity to meet with other co-ordinators at National Pastoral meetings. ``In our last Prison Pastoral meeting in June, we were informed that throughout the north and north-east, a militarisation of prison regimes is taking place. This means that police are assuming responsibility for the running of the prisons, despite the fact that this is strictly forbidden by the Brazilian Constitution and international conventions. Police should only control the outside walls and the outside life of the prison.''
Such flouting of rules and regulations is unsurprising, however, given that in the province of Minas Gerai alone, 70 to 80 per cent of prisoners spend years in police lock-ups, as there is not enough room in the official prison system for the province's inmate population.