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Brazil faces a challenge and it was made more real this week. A video surfacing of the brutal
beheading of three prisoners in the Maranhao state. The gruesome footage was captured during
a riot at a jail and has since fuelled international criticism - now from the UN. At the Pedrinhas
prison where the horrific video was filmed, local media says overcrowding is apparent.
There is space for 1,700 inmates - yet it's currently home to 2,200. An inspection of
the jail in December found that female visitors were being *** by inmates of rival gangs.
That gang culture has made the riots worse with inmates attacking each other.
Official figures show the number of people imprisoned rose by 60 per cent in three years.
There is an argument that the penal system is flawed because it hands out sentences that
are too long for softer crimes like theft - leading to more overcrowding. And that there
is not a proper system in place to re-educate and re-integrate people into society. Brazil
is now being urged to urgently address the problems otherwise face more riots, violence
and deaths.