Prison fight between gangs leads to 56 deaths in Manaus

01/03/2017 - 15h28

A fight between rival gangs led to 56 deaths on Monday (the 2nd) in Manaus.

The riot at the Compaj (Anísio Jobim Penitentiary Complex), which is the biggest prison in the state of Amazonas, lasted 17 hours. It is the greatest bloodshed in a Brazilian prison since 1992, when the Military Policy killed 111 inmates in the state of São Paulo in what is known as the Carandiru Massacre.

Since then, the worst outbreak of violence had been the 31 deaths that took place during a rebellion in 2004 at the Casa de Custódia de Benfica, in Rio de Janeiro.

The riot started on Sunday, and was instigated by a rivalry between the Família do Norte gang —which led the riot— and the PCC (First Command of the Capital).

Some prisoners took advantage of the riot to flee the prison.

The judge of the Court of Criminal Enforcement, Luís Carlos Valois, who negotiated with the inmates, said that there were quartered and decapitated bodies at the scene. "I had never seen something this grotesque before", he said.

The prison complex held 1,224 inmates, which is three times its capacity. During an inspection in October, the Board of National Justice considered that the prison was "awful" for those re-entering society.

"There's a silent war going on in which the government must intervene", said Sérgio Fortes, the secretary of Public Safety of the state of Amazonas.

Just before the deadly riot at the Compaj, 87 inmates escaped from the Antônio Trindade Penal Institute, a prison just 5 kilometers away.

Translated by THOMAS MATHEWSON

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