51吃瓜

A court decision brings spotlight back onto Brazil鈥檚 bloodiest prison revolt.

The Military Police Department of S茫o Paulo has a long history of brutality and racial profiling. An points out that in S茫o Paulo, 鈥渟erious human rights violations continue to be denounced, such as homicides committed by the police, as well as torture and mistreatment of people in custody. Young black men living in slums and poor areas on the outskirts of cities are more in danger.鈥�

No other episode, however, was as shocking as the Carandiru Massacre that took place in a S茫o Paulo prison on October 2, 1992. On this now-infamous day, at least 111 inmates were slaughtered by police agents.

The bloodiest episode in Brazilian penitentiary history began at 10am when two inmates housed at the Carandiru prison started a fight during a football match in the prison yard. The brawl quickly escalated into a general rebellion. By 2pm, prisoners were burning mattresses and blocking entrances to the cellblocks. State authorities attempted negotiations for about an hour, after which police troops stormed the prison and, within half an hour, 111 inmates were dead鈥攅ach was shot an average of five times, and not a single agent lost his life.

Symbol of Violence

This brutal massacre went onto not only become a symbol S茫o Paulo鈥檚 police violence, but also of impunity in Brazil. Twenty-four years after the massacre, not a single law enforcement agent has been arrested. Although 74 agents were convicted for murder and human rights violations鈥攚ith a combined sentence of nearly 700 years of imprisonment鈥攖he verdict was appealed and the accused never served jail time. To make matters worse, S茫o Paulo鈥檚 State Court , which has brought the case against them back to square one.

One judge denied that the massacre took place, pushing for the dismissal of the charges. According to Judge Ivan Sartori, the event 鈥渨asn鈥檛 a massacre, but self-defense.鈥� Let鈥檚 not forget the fact that the prisoners didn鈥檛 have firearms, and that many bodies were found with bullet holes in the back of their heads, classic execution style.

State judges based their decision on a technicality: According to the court鈥檚 decision, it is illegal to convict the 74 law enforcement agents involved in the raid since no analysis was performed on the ballistics. It is impossible, the judges insist, to determine which officer killed which inmate. Because of this technicality, the judges maintain that the convictions of the agents were unsupported by evidence.

The brutality of the Carandiru Massacre was a defining moment of the 1990s Brazil. The episode served as material for musicians, such as Caetano Veloso and Gilberto Gil, and the director Hector Babenco, who directed the 2003 movie .

Impunity Is The Norm

Even more disgraceful was the leniency displayed at the time toward state authorities. Colonel Ubiratan Guimar茫es, for example, who coordinated the blood bath, was elected to Congress in 2002. Candidates in Brazil are identified by numbers, and Guimar茫es chose a number that ended in 111鈥攁 nasty reference to the number of inmates murdered. He was himself murdered in 2006 without ever facing formal punishment for his actions. Then-Governor Luiz Ant么nio Fleury Filho, to whom the Military Police answered, is currently a member of the PMDB鈥檚 (Party of the Brazilian Democratic Movement) National Committee, Brazil鈥檚 largest political party.

This flagrant disregard for justice ultimately encourages police brutality, according to Sandra Jardim, who prosecuted the officers involved in the Carandiru Massacre. According to Jardim, Judge Ivo Sartori鈥檚 ruling 鈥渢ears down the Brazilian Constitution鈥� in choosing not to punish violent excesses in police actions. This is particularly disturbing if we recall the recent episodes of police violence directed toward black and low-income populations. A March shows outraging data on the practice.

In August 2015, two massacres took place in violent parts of the S茫o Paulo Metropolitan Area. It is believed that seven policemen and guards acted to avenge the death of a coworker, resulting in a bloodbath that killed 19 people鈥攁 15-year-old among the victims.

Cases involving for the officers involved. This occurs even when victims have been shot from close range or execution-style. Impunity is the rule when it comes to murder cases, and not just for cases involving law enforcement officers. According to Amnesty International, only . Multiple factors contribute to this statistic, including flawed investigations and forensic work, as well as a slow-moving justice system.

Despite the arguments presented by those who defend 鈥渧igorous action鈥� by the police, massacres don鈥檛 protect law-abiding citizens. The outcome of the Carandiru Massacre was instead the union of several criminal actions, which came together to form a major drug cartel called the 聽(Primeiro Comando da Capital, PCC in Portuguese). Now, drug lords rule many state prisons in Brazil, and control organized crime both inside and outside of the penitentiary system.

The Structure of the Police Must Change

There are three main police forces in Brazil: Federal Police, Civil Police and Military Police. The first is our equivalent to the FBI, and it is attached to the Ministry of Justice. The remaining two are state forces. To simplify the distinction between them: the Civil Police are the detectives, and the Military Police function more like beat cops. The former investigates crimes, while the latter is supposed to prevent them from happening by monitoring specific areas. Not only does the Military Police fail greatly in crime prevention, but it are also thought to contribute to criminal activity: are attributed to these cops.

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The daily reality endured by policemen is not an easy one, either. Salaries are notoriously bad, especially for a job like theirs: They survive on under $600 a month. They also must work with outdated equipment, if they have it at all.

Many experts argue for the demilitarization of the police and a major overhaul of Brazil鈥檚 law enforcement structure. Defenders of the current system, however, maintain that the police militarization is specified by our Constitution. At least this was what the Brazilian government told the UN back in 2012. Sure, it鈥檚 constitutional鈥攂ut that doesn鈥檛 mean it should stay that way.

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The views expressed in this article are the author鈥檚 own and do not necessarily reflect 51吃瓜鈥檚 editorial policy.

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