From: Human Rights Coordinator <hrcoord@igc.apc.org>
Newsgroups: soc.rights.human
Date: 05 Oct 92 18:44 PDT
Subject: AI UA309/92 BRAZIL EJEs
Nf-ID: #N:cdp:1476700589:000:6809
Nf-From: cdp.UUCP!hrcoord    Oct  5 18:44:00 1992


/* Written  7:14 pm  Oct  5, 1992 by gn:rmitchellai in cdp:ai.uan */
/* ---------- "AI UA309/92 BRAZIL EJEs" ---------- */
EXTERNAL (for general distribution)        AI Index: AMR 19/24/92
                                           Distr: UA/SC       
 
UA 309/92      Extrajudicial executions    5 October 1992
 
BRAZIL:        Killing of 111 inmates in Sao Paulo Prison        
 
 Amnesty International is concerned about the circumstances of the
killing of at least 111 prisoners and the wounding of at least 35 others
at the Detention House jail, Casa de Detencao, on 2 October 1992, in
Sao Paulo Brazil, suggesting that they may have been extrajudicially
executed.
 
The state governor of Sao Paulo announced that inquiries into the
incident will be conducted by the state civil and military police and by
the military justice.  Amnesty International does not believe this would
be an adequate response to the extremely grave situation and is
seeking mass appeals to support the demand for an independent
commission of inquiry.  Given previous ineffective inquiries into human
rights violations in Brazil, Amnesty International believes an
independent inquiry is essential if further such abuses are to be
prevented.
 
According to a state security spokesman, quoted in the press, the
violence at the jail began in the afternoon of Friday 2 October, when
rival gangs in Pavilion 9 attacked each other with home made knives,
clubs and guns in the pavilion's central patio. The conflict allegedly
spread into a general uprising of the 2076 prisoners in that pavilion,
leading prison officers to call in military police. After efforts to
negotiate allegedly failed, several hundred Sao Paulo state Military
Police officers, backed by helicopters, moved in to take control of the
prison at dusk. Most of the inmate deaths allegedly resulted from
gunshots. The authorities acknowledged that the police used machine
guns against the prisoners. No police officer was killed during the
action, but 22 were reportedly injured. The police reported that 13
revolvers and dozens of home made knives were recovered from inside
Pavilion 9. The police didn't allow the prison wardens into the prison
until the following day and news about the number of victims were not
released until Saturday evening. 
 
According to reports received by Amnesty International the prisoners
denied that they were armed with guns and said that no shots were
fired at the police and that no prisoner was killed by their fellow
prisoners. They denied that there were any plans for a massive escape
as claimed by the state authorities.They alleged that the police fired
machine guns indiscriminately against the prisoners and that at a later
stage some prisoners were extrajudicially executed after they had
locked themselves into their cells. The Catholic Chaplain of the prison
told Amnesty International that most of the bodies he saw appeared to
have several shot wounds in the chest and head and that at least two
of them had their hands joined behind their heads. 
 
The State Secretary for Public Security, Pedro Franco de Campos has,
according to journalistic reports, justified the use of machine guns
alleging that it was necessary to control the situation and prevent a
mass escape that would have put the population of the city at risk. He
is quoted as saying that in a situation like that the police has orders to
shoot to kill. He allegedly said that the use of machine guns was not
outrageous because, after all, the lives of law enforcement officials
were at risk. "Num caso como esse, a Policia tem order de atirar para
matar. Nao e nehum absurdo o fato de terem sido utilizadas
metralhadoras, afinal a vida dos homens da lei estava em jogo."
 
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
 
The Detention House, Casa de Detencao, is Brazil's largest prison. 
Built to hold 3500 inmates its current population is estimated at about
7,350 prisoners, from first-time offenders to maximum security
prisoners.  The condition of Brazil's prisons has resulted in a spate of
protests, riots and escape attempts. Most of these rebellions have been
crushed by the police, often with lethal force. Beatings are common in
reprisals for prisoners' rebellions. There is also evidence that in the
past the police has carried out extrajudicial executions in the aftermath
of prison riots. (See "Torture and Extrajudicial Execution in Urban
Brazil" AI Index AMR 19/05/90).
 
In October 1991 twenty four inmates died as a result of a fire,
allegedly started by prison officers and at least 18 others were injured 
reportedly from beatings in a prison in Rio de Janeiro. On 28
February 1992 seven prisoners were killed by members of the Assault
Battalion (Batalhao de Choque) of the Military Police during a riot at
the Anibal Bruno prison in Recife, Pernambuco state. In July 1992
twelve prisoners and a prison officer were killed during an attempted
breakout from the 64th Police Station, Delegacia Policial, in Sao Joao
de Meriti, Rio de Janeiro state.
 
RECOMMENDED ACTIONS: Please send
telegrams/telexes/faxes/express and airmail letters either in Portuguese,
French, Spanish, English or your own language:
 
- expressing your concern at the apparent excessive use of lethal force
resulting in the killing of at least 111 prisoners and the wounding of at
least 35 others at the Detention House, Casa de Detencao, in Sao
Paulo on 2 October 1992, and about allegations that some of the
inmates were extrajudicially executed;
 
- requesting that an independent commission of inquiry be appointed
to carry out a thorough and impartial investigation into the incident
and that the findings be made public.
 
APPEALS TO:
 
State Governor of Sao Paulo:
 
Exmo. Sr. Luiz Antonio Fleury
[Salutation: Vossa Excelencia / Your Excellency]
Governador do Estado de Sao Paulo
Palacio dos Bandeirantes
Av. Morumbi s/n
05.598  Sao Paulo - SP
Brasil
Telegrams:  Governador Sao Paulo, Brasil
Faxes:      + 55 11 8439271
 
State Secretary of Public Security:
 
Sr. Secretario de Seguranca Publica do Estado de Sao Paulo
[Salutation: Sr. Secretario / Dear Sir]
Sr. Pedro Franco de Campos
Av. Higienopolis, 758
01.238 Sao Paulo - SP
Brasil
Telegrams:  Secretario Seguranca Publica, Sao Paulo, SP, Brasil
Telexes:    11 21 521
Faxes:      +55 11 8258813
 
COPIES TO one or more of the following:
 
Human Rights Commission: 
 
Sub Comissao de Direitos Humanos OAB Sao Paulo
Praca da Se 385 3o andar
01001 Capital - SP
Brasil
Faxes: +55 11 375219
 
Newspaper: 
 
Folha da Tarde
Folha de Sao Paulo
Alameda Barao de Limeira 425
Campos Elisios
01202 Sao Paulo
Brasil
Faxes: +55 11 223644
 
and to the diplomatic representative in your country - please see the
responses to this topic for details.
 
PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY.  Please do not send
appeals after 16 November 1992.