Officials said the victims were dismembered and thrown at riot police as they stormed the jail to put down the rebellion. Commonplace Fearful of new riots and further bloodshed, the Brazilian Government has proposed changes and extra funding for its crumbling penitentiary system. However, so far this has done nothing to curb the violence that is gripping the country's prisons. The violence in Brazil's jails has become so commonplace that the latest uprising received only a passing mention on local news programmes. At first, the inmates in Maceio demanded an improvement of conditions, but then some of them started to demand weapons and armoured cars to escape.
Every day there are similar stories.
A prisoner was murdered during another uprising in Sao Paulo at the weekend. It was in one of the same prisons that took part in last month's rebellion. This was organised by one of the gangs, which set many of the rules in the prisons. The government has been transferring gang leaders ever since then, promising to build new high security jails in an effort to forestall further problems. But gang leaders who stay in touch between prisons using mobile phones say they are planning more uprisings.