E/CN.4/2001/66/Add.2
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like a large spoon, said to have been used to beat the palm of hands and soles of feet of slaves);
techniques referred to as telefone, which consists in repeatedly slapping the victim’s ears
alternatively or simultaneously, and pau de arara (parrot’s perch), which consists in beating a
victim who has been hung upside down; applying electro-shocks on various parts of the body,
including the genitals; placing plastic bags, sometimes filled in with pepper, over the head of the
victims. The purpose of such acts was allegedly to make persons under arrest sign a confession
or to extract a bribe, or to punish or intimidate individuals suspected of having committed a
crime. It is reported that being of African descent or belonging to a minority or marginalized
group, and in particular a combination of those characteristics, make such persons more easily
suspected of criminal activities in the eyes of law enforcement officials.
10.
The President of Brazil indicated that his Government was planning to implement a
comprehensive public security plan. The Special Rapporteur notes, however, that the fight
against a high level of criminality was often presented by his official interlocutors as an
explanation, if not a justification, of the rather tough behaviour of law enforcement officials who
were reported to have to face violent criminals while having limited resources at their disposal.
The focus of public security policies was thus believed to be on repression, apparently
sometimes without clear limitations, rather than prevention. The need to alleviate the general
feeling of public insecurity which feeds constant requests from the population for always
stronger and more repressive measures against suspected criminals was often stressed. The
media were also said to be partly responsible for this feeling of insecurity amongst the public. In
that respect, it was said, in particular by NGOs, that human rights education of the population at
large needed to be seriously improved.
11.
For ease of reference, this section begins with a detailed description of the places of
detention visited by the Special Rapporteur during his stay in the following states: São Paulo,
Rio de Janeiro, Minas Gerais, Pernambuco and Pará. It is subdivided into the following
categories of places of detention: police stations/lock-ups, pre-trial detention centres, prisons
and juvenile detention centres. The Special Rapporteur did not visit any places of detention in
the Federal District of Brasilia as few allegations had been made with respect to it. Similarly, he
had received little information according to which federal law enforcement officials were
responsible for torture. In all places of detention visited by the Special Rapporteur, with the
exception of Nelson Hungria prison in Minas Gerais, the main problem was overcrowding
which, coupled with an inadequate, indeed often falling apart architectural plant, unhygienic
sanitation, lack of health care and poor quality or even a shortage of food, made the conditions of
detention sub-human, as several authorities had warned. According to NGOs, those conditions
cannot be blamed only on lack of financial or material resources, but also result from deliberate
policies or serious neglect on the part of the relevant authorities. However, the Special
Rapporteur notes that a number of his official interlocutors, in particular heads of police stations
(delegados), complained about the extreme material situation they were made to face because of,
according to them, lack of resources. Most of them regretted having to hold persons in such bad
conditions. Furthermore, as pointed out by the delegado of the theft and robbery police station
of Belo Horizonte, owing to the fact that most detainees are held in police stations rather than in
pre-trial detention centres or prisons, police officers are compelled to act as guards rather than as
investigators, while their primary function and training concern the latter.