Life at Brazilian prison where ‘the state has lost control’

For nearly two years, guards did not dare enter the cell blocks at the Alcacuz prison in northeastern Brazil. And with good reason. Only about a dozen at a time are supposed to watch some 1,500 inmates, whose gangs are supplied through tunnels that let them bring in guns, knives, cellphones and just about anything else.
The lockup, nicknamed “Swiss cheese” by residents of the surrounding neighborhood, saw a Jan. 14 riot in which 26 prisoners died — and officials here are still trying to finally regain full control.
“The state has lost control,” Vilma Batista, a guard at Alcacuz and president of the correction officers union in Rio Grande do Norte state, told The Associated Press, speaking just outside the prison in the wake of the clashes. “We have lost all of the buildings in the prison where there are inmates, who remain in command and in control.”
Alcacuz is among the worst prisons in Brazil, but by no means an aberration. The problems here can be found across Latin America’s largest nation, which is experiencing a wave of prison massacres and unrest that have left at least 130 inmates dead since the beginning of the year.
Neglect has long been building at Alcacuz where more than 1,550 inmates are crammed into buildings meant for about 1,000.
Batista said guards — no more than 12 are on duty at any time — have not entered some parts of the complex since riots in March 2015. She said they are routinely paid late and their watchtowers are so decrepit that some are unusable. There are no x-ray machines to scan visitors, and a machine used to check food is often broken.
Outnumbered and ill-equipped, Batista said, the guards can do little more than corral the prisoners into areas they themselves are afraid to enter.
Authorities acknowledge that Alcacuz is beyond saving. Rio Grande do Norte state Gov. Robinson Faria has announced it will close, though only after three new prisons are ready. In the meantime, an emergency force of corrections agents has been sent in to establish order and repair the damaged facility.

Source : Arab News