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Brazil: At Least 57 Killed in Prison Riot

HeadlineJul 30, 2019

In Brazil, at least 57 people were killed in a prison gang riot Monday in the state of Pará. Authorities say 16 people were decapitated, while others died of asphyxiation after a fire filled the prison with thick smoke. In May, at least 55 prisoners were killed when fights broke out across four prisons in the state of Amazonas. Brazil has the third-largest prison population in the world. Human rights groups say prisons are massively overcrowded and rife with mistreatment and violence. The Altamira jail, where Monday’s riot took place, housed more than twice its capacity of prisoners. President Jair Bolsonaro, who campaigned on a law-and-order platform, has said he would “stuff prison cells with criminals.”

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