At least 31 people were killed Friday in the second prison riot in Brazil this week, justice officials said, lowering the death toll slightly from figures given earlier.
The bodies of some of the victims had been beheaded or dismembered, Uziel Castro, justice secretary in the northern state of Roraimo said, blaming members of a gang called Primeiro Comando do Capital (PCC or “First Command in the Capital”) for the violence.
Security officials regained control over the situation at the Monte Cristo prison near Boa Vista, the capital of Roraimo, after several hours.
In another revolt at the same jail in October, 10 prisoners were killed. Approximately 1,400 inmates are held at the prison, which is designed for only 700.
On Monday, 56 inmates were killed when rival groups of prisoners attacked each other in the Anisio Jobim prison in the city of Manaus, in the state adjacent to Roraimo. Many of the dead also belonged to the PCC.
Authorities in Amazonas, of which Manaus is the capital, had warned the government in Roraima that the violence could spread.
The PCC is a bitter rival of the Comando Vermelho (CV or “Red Commando”), whose regional associate gang the Familia del Norte (FDN or “Family of the North”) was responsible for the massacre in Manaus.
However, Justice Minister Alexandre de Moraes denied speculation at a press conference that the killings in Boa Vista were an act of revenge.
There were no other gang aside from the PCC in the prison there, and the riot was due to an as yet unexplained conflict between PCC inmates and other prisoners, with no gang affiliation, he said.
The number of dead in Manaus was the highest in a prison riot since 1992 when 111 inmates died after police stormed a prison in Carandiru
in Sao Paulo.
Brazil has one of the highest prison populations in the world. According to the Institute for Criminal Policy Research (ICPR), there are over 620,000 inmates in Brazil in prisons built to accommodate 372,000.
Criminal gangs are organized across Brazil and their members who are incarcerated are able to communicate with each other using mobile
phones. This has enabled drug dealing behind bars.
Unions representing Brazilian prison employees say staffing numbers are far too low.
Rio de Janeiro (dpa)
