Brazil struggles to curb prison violence that has killed 125
RIO DE JANEIRO- Brazilian authorities are scrambling to stop a wave of prison violence that has killed at least 125 inmates in two weeks, many with their heads cut off or their hearts and intestines ripped out.
Three massacres and many smaller fatal clashes, all in northern states, have followed a pattern that security forces have been unable to get ahead of. It starts with an hours-long riot inside a penitentiary, then military police are sent in to assist severely outnumbered guards and distraught families wait outside while inmates post on social media photos they take of chopped up body parts.
The factors fueling the violence among rival gang members are so complex that authorities say some potential remedies could exacerbate the problem. And the possibility of continued killings is raising fears the violence could spill into favelas, or slums, in major cities like Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo, where drug operations are run in conjunction with bosses in prisons.
"Stopping the bloodshed begins with the federal and state governments calling this what it is: a public emergency," said Robert Muggah, research director for the Igarape Institute, a Brazil-based think tank that focuses on security. "This is a problem from hell that has been festering for half a century."
