Brazilian President concerns about gang crimes

Brazilian President Michel Temer stated Wednesday that criminal gans seemed to have "rights outside the State" which concerned the entire country.

The president said at a cabinet meeting that the crisis in the prison system had gone beyond the sphere of security. Around 100 people have been killed in prison riots in northern Brazil since this year.

Temer stated that the federal government "was very interested in this topic, as criminal organizations, such as the PCC (Primer Comando de la Capital), Familia do Norte, etc, constitute almost judicial rules, a rule of law outside the State."

"To our surprise, when they carry out these frightful killings, they do it according to their own codes. Therefore, it is a question that goes beyond security and concerns the entire country," he highlighted.

Temer added that public security is not the exclusive responsibility of the federal government and he would help regional governments to face the crisis in prisons, as well as the financial crisis across the country.

Concerning the massive overcrowding in prisons across the country, the president recognized the conditions in which inmates were kept "inhumane."

"The reality demands the construction of prisons, at least to improve the inhumane conditions. There are prisons which are designed for 600 people actually holding 1,600 people," explained Temer.

The prison riot killings have mainly happened in the northern part of Brazil.

On Jan. 1, a riot between two gangs, Familia do Norte and Primer Comando do Capital, left 56 dead there. Over the next week, a number of follow-up massacres were seen, with the deadliest coming in the Monte Cristo prison in Roraima, where 33 prisoners died.

On Monday, four more prisoners died in the Puraquequara prison in Manaus.

In a strategy to restore order in northern states prisons, elite commandos were deployed on Tuesday to Manaus and Boa Vista, capital of the neighboring state of Roraima, to help reinforce security in prisons.

The measure is part of the help the federal government promised to seven northern states in order to reinforce control in those prisons.

source: Xinhua