A wave of violence in several prisons in northern Brazil kills 57 | Internationale

Nine detainees, who allegedly ordered attacks on their rivals in four state prisons, will be transferred to federal prisons this week, according to Amazonas authorities. Many Brazilian prisons are dominated by criminal groups that have violent conflicts over the control of drug trafficking. Brazil is the third country with the largest prison population with more than 700,000 people in severe overcrowding conditions.

The governor of Amazonas, Wilson Lima, announced the arrival of the first agents of an organ created in 2017 as a force of intervention in criminal courts. The landing of the first 20 is expected this Tuesday, 80 more will arrive during the rest of the week. Surveillance in the Amazon jails has been strengthened and visits suspended for a month.

According to the State Secretariat for Prison Administration (SEAP), prisoners who died Monday were hanged in addition to Compaj in three prisons, all located in the capital of the Amazon.

The murders resulting from internal strife have taken place in Manaus jails at least since 2017, when a 17-hour revolt resulted in the death of 56 people. In addition, last December, a prison officer died in the prison.

The Amazonian Penitentiary Department had informed the Efe agency that the situation was under control late Sunday afternoon, when a military police battalion had been mobilized to enter some of the prisons. The federal government announced that at the request of the government of Amazonas, it would send a special intervention unit to prisons in Manaus Prisons.

"Formed by the federal criminal execution agents of the 26 states of the federation and the federal district, this unit follows the schedule defined by the entities involved in the operation, whenever their action is necessary", the Department of Justice and Public Safety.

The ministry, chaired by former judge Sérgio Moro, also recalls in the note that "the National Public Security Force (FNSP) has been responsible for the security of the outer area of ​​the Anísio Jobim penitentiary complex since 9 January 2017. FNSP would continue to act there. " This Monday, after Sunday's 15 deaths, the ministry had already confirmed that it would strengthen the presence of police in other state prisons as a "precautionary measure". Earlier, the secretary of the prison administration of Amazonas, Colonel Marcos Vinicius Almeida, dismissed the hypothesis of a "rebellion" and stated that the deaths occurred during the Sunday's visit following a "dispute between the detainees".

Sunday's victims, according to Almeida, died of asphyxiation or stabbing with toothbrushes. "This never happens during visits, some have died inside their cells with closed doors, many have committed crimes in front of their loved ones," said the secretary. According to the Secretariat, there were no leaks or attacks against the prison guards. And no family member was taken hostage. The cell phone of the brawl that caused the deaths will be investigated by the authorities, who have temporarily suspended visits to the center and said that they will badyze the images from the surveillance cameras.