mixing factions in prisons and banning taking

Ending access to electrical outlets in cells (to avoid the use of cell phones) and not separating criminals by criminal factions in prisons are some of the measures to combat crime that opposition parliamentarians want to import from El Salvador to Brazil. A group of deputies from the Chamber’s Public Security and Combating Organized Crime Committee traveled this week to the small Caribbean country, whose president Nayib Bukele became famous for taking strong measures to reduce crime.

Since 2022, President Bukele has led an exceptional regime to combat the gangs that were plaguing the country. The measure was approved by the Congress of El Salvador and should last until March 2024. Among his achievements, Bukele built the Terrorism Internment Center (Cecot), a prison for more than 40 thousand inmates.

The center is exclusive to prisoners who “occupy high positions” of the Mara Salvatrucha (or MS-13) and the two factions of Barrio 18 – rival gangs that have progressively increased their power in recent decades, recruiting young people and controlling territories. The prison became known for having few benefits for prisoners, such as the lack of courtyards for socializing or spaces for intimate visits. Furthermore, prisoners are not allowed to communicate with their families.

Parliamentarians want to understand how Bukele’s policies reduced the country’s homicide rate, which once recorded one of the highest in the world. In May of this year, the head of the Executive announced that the country had been without homicides for 365 days. But the Salvadoran president has been the target of criticism from a series of international organizations that accuse him of human rights abuses against criminals.

Brazilian congressmen are expected to visit Cecot, the National Academy of Public Security and the Ministry of National Defense of El Salvador.

“We want to know the Prison System and learn about the legislation that was approved here in relation to criminal organizations. What caught our attention is that here they treat members of criminal organizations, so-called gangs, as terrorists. So, our objective is to carry out technical cooperation with the government to understand how this system works”, said deputy Captain Alden.

The delegation was formed by deputies Captain Alden (PL-BA), Sanderson (PL-RS), Eduardo Bolsonaro (PL-SP), Osmar Terra (MDB-RS), Coronel Assis (União-MT), Delegate Ione (Avante- MG) and Delegado Ramagem (PL-RJ).

Deputies defend reformulation of the prison system

Asked if the delegation intends to import the “super prison” model to Brazil, Alden explains that more than new equipment, it is necessary to adopt measures in existing prisons.

“We cannot summarize the issue of Public Security to the construction of prisons, but what stands out here is that El Salvador is putting into practice some measures that we, in Brazil, have tried for many years and failed to achieve. Such as, for example, removing sockets in cells. This would prevent criminals from using cell phones and other electronic devices that facilitate communication between criminal organizations,” added the parliamentarian.

He also defended the change in the current Brazilian penal model, which allows the separation of criminal factions within prisons.

“While in Brazil we are concerned with separating criminal factions into wings – PCC on one side of the prison and Comando Vermelho on the other -, in El Salvador this does not exist. There is an understanding that this separation makes organizations stronger”, he pointed out.

Deputy Coronel Assis (União – MT) highlights the rigidity of the Salvadoran system and claims that “effective compliance with the sentence is a deterrent to the feeling of impunity that the criminal has”. For the parliamentarian, crime needs to be fought with concrete actions that are far from ideology.

“It is not possible to combat the rise of crime – which brings with it an increase in violence – with empty talk, with unrealistic theories. It is necessary to have effective actions that do not have an ideological character, left or right. We need a concentrated effort on the part of the Legislature, the Judiciary and the Executive branch itself”, says the deputy.

It is important to highlight that, despite the reduction in homicides, international entities accuse the government of El Salvador of violating human rights in alleged arbitrary arrests. According to a report from Human Rights Watch, in 2022, around 2,900 cases of human rights violations were recorded during the state of emergency. Additionally, approximately 90 inmates died in prison, according to Salvadoran authorities.

Rigidity in the criminal system contributes to the fight against organized crime

For experts interviewed by the report, the adoption of strict measures in the criminal system has a relevant impact on the fight against organized crime and contributes to the safety of the population itself. According to data from the United Nations, Brazil recorded 47,722 murders in 2023, 10.4% of the global total. In homicides per capita, it is in 11th position, with 22.38 deaths per 100 thousand inhabitants – almost four times more than the global average.

Public security researcher Fabrício Rebelo, responsible for the Law and Security Research Center (Cepedes), argues that the policy adopted by El Salvador results in social protection.

“Although the details of the penal system may reveal peculiarities that are difficult to reproduce directly in other normative models, the great lesson that can be drawn from the Salvadoran example translates, exactly, into the effectiveness of a model that does not privilege the well-being of the criminal, but rather social protection”, assesses Rebelo.

He adds that when this becomes a reality, that is, when the criminal law is strict and not lenient, the certainty of punishment achieves its fundamental pedagogical function, discouraging the practice of new crimes. The result is a sharp drop in crime.

In the assessment of security analyst Leonardo Sant’anna, author of the book “Who messed with my security?”the construction of Cecot is a reflection that the Salvadoran State understood that, more than punishment, prison also needs to send a message to criminality.

“When we talk about the incarceration carried out in El Salvador, we see that the State realized that there was no longer a social understanding, the understanding of criminals and groups that had some interest in carrying out one or another crime, that the punishment would be carried out. Therefore, , the construction of a prison with 40 thousand inmates brings the symbol that the State will no longer allow the crime to be committed without you being caught, punished, re-educated and after that, returned to society”, said the former police officer .

Regarding the situation in Brazil, he analyzes how current impunity affects the imagination of Brazilian citizens. “In Brazil, we are moving towards a scenario where these people, the criminals, have been aware for a long time that there will be no punishment, there will not be a re-education process. They can commit the first, second, third, fourth offense. He is already aware that he can commit the crime and will not face any type of sanction. This phenomenon is already part of the social imagination, both of those who commit the crime and of society itself”, he pointed out.