Combating torture

In the UN, organizations call on Governor Alckmin to set up state-level mechanism to combat and prevent torture

Preso exibe marcas de queimaduras durante inspeção do Complexo Prisional de Pedrinhas (MA) - 2015

Four years after the implementation of the National Mechanism to Combat Torture, the state of São Paulo has still not passed a law to create its own state-level mechanism.

The criticism was made this Monday, September 18, by a group of civil society organizations and public bodies during the 36th session of the UN Human Rights Council.

In 2007, Brazil ratified the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment and six years later it passed Federal Law 12,847/13 that created the national mechanism and recommended the creation of state-level mechanisms.

>> Read the statement in full

Despite having a third of Brazil’s prison population, the state of São Paulo has still not acted on the recommendation. In 2016, civil society again pressured the administration of Governor Geraldo Alckmin to fulfill its obligation and draft this legislation. As a result of its failure to do so, the group of organizations have asked the UN Human Rights Council to keep abreast of the situation and publicly address the issue.

“Governor Alckmin has refused to take responsibility for making a key institutional change to combat and prevent torture in the state. It’s worth noting that there are more than 200,000 people in prison in São Paulo, nearly a third of the entire country’s prison population,” said Rafael Custódio, coordinator of Institutional Violence at Conectas. “The implementation of the mechanism would strengthen social control over detention facilities, helping guarantee fundamental rights,” he added.

The response of the state of São Paulo was given by the Brazilian Ambassador to the UN in Geneva, Maria de Nazaré Farani, who reiterated the country’s full commitment to effectively preventing and combating torture. “Consulted about the matter in question, the São Paulo State Justice and Citizenship Department has informed that it adheres to and fully supports the national policy to combat torture. It [the state] has a long-standing commitment of preventing torture and holding perpetrators accountable.”