Violent confrontation has killed 15 people in a prison in Brazil

The fight took place in two pavilions, during the visiting hours, at Anísio Jobim Penitentiary Complex (Compaj), 28 km from Manaus, capital of Amazonas, according to the details of the State Secretariat of Prison Administration of the region. This happens two years later, in the same prison, a riot of 20 hours left 56 dead, in what constitutes one of the biggest mbadacres of the penitentiary system in Brazil.

"It was a fight between the detainees. No deaths had ever been recorded during the visits. It was the first time that it had happened, it is something unusual. Some have died in the cell with the bars closed, "said at a press conference Colonel Marcos Vinicius Almeida, head of the regional office, says Almeida.

The head of the office added that the situation was controlled by the security forces after 40 minutes and that there was no escape, no hostage, no injury or death. Almeida specified that an investigation had been opened to determine the causes of the fight and anticipated that, to the extent that the state does not recognize the concept of factions, the case is treated as a confrontation between detainees, adding that the authorities reacted in a few minutes, which prevented a major tragedy.

There was a confrontation between two organized groups within the prison, who have conflicts and took advantage of the time spent on family visits to carry out this action, said Louismar Bonates

However, the Secretary of Public Security of Amazonas, Louismar Bonates, said, quoted by the newspaper Folha de S. Paulothat "there was a confrontation between two groups organized inside the prison, who have conflicts and took advantage of the time devoted to family visits to carry out this action."

Brazil adds the the third largest prison population in the world with 726,712 prisoners (in 2016), who generally live in squalid overcrowding and under the command of factions that challenge the control of drug trafficking and are spared by frequent and bloody settling of accounts. Immediately following the Compaj tragedy in 2017, another mbadacre took place in the state of Roraima in the north of the country, killing 33 people in the lives of several detainees.

S.D.