2019 Altamira prison riot
- Comando Vermelho
- Família do Norte
- Primeiro Comando da Capital
The Altamira prison riot occurred on 29 July 2019, when a riot broke out at the Centro de Recuperação Regional de Altamira prison in Altamira, Pará, Brazil due to drug turf disputes between rival gangs within the prison.
Over the five-hour conflict, 62 people died. Sixteen people were beheaded, and a fire lit at the beginning of the riot killed 46 more people due to smoke inhalation.
Background
Gang violence in Brazilian prisons is common. However, officials reported that the inmates had shown no signs prior to the riot that they would start something of such magnitude.[1]
The Altamira prison is supposed to hold 200 inmates, but was reportedly holding over 450 at the time of the riot.[1][2][3] It was later revealed that the prison only had 33 guards, with the municipality admitting this was nowhere near enough to ensure security.[4] A new structure at the prison was being built to house the excess prisoners,[5] though prison officials deny there was overcrowding[1] and many inmates were held in old container units. The design of these supposedly made the fire worse.[5]
The gangs involved were Comando Classe A (CCA)[6] and Comando Vermelho (CV), with CCA attacking CV. CV is a large Rio de Janeiro-based gang[2] that has a longstanding history of violent confrontation with Primeiro Comando da Capital (PCC), another large national group.[1] Comparatively, the CCA is a small regional gang in Pará.[2] According to The Guardian, the attack was part of a longstanding drug trade turf war that is ultimately between CV and PCC.[3]
Attack
At around 07:00 while breakfast was being served,[2] violence broke out after members from the CCA gang housed in one block set fire to another block which housed members of the CV gang, according to local official Jarbas Vasconcelos.[1][2] Two prison guards were initially taken hostage, but released soon after the fire had been lit; the gang intended to stop the officers from preventing their targeted attack but did not want to harm them.[1][2]
Police forces could not enter the building due to the fire.[7] The violence lasted five hours, ending at noon.[1] During prison searches, no firearms were found, only homemade blades.[2] It was reported that gunshots could be heard at the nearby Altamira Airport, with one worker saying that the shooting lasted 30 minutes.[3]
Fifty-seven people were initially reported dead. Sixteen of these were beheaded, while the others died as a result of smoke inhalation from the fire.[7] The prison's poor design meant the fire could spread more rapidly.[1] A charred body was later found buried under the rubble by the Institute of Forensic Medicine of Pará.[4] The death toll rose to 62 after officials found four suffocated inmates inside a prison bus. The bus had been carrying the prison's most violent inmates, who were being transferred to a new prison after the riots.[8]
Response
The Ministry of Justice told media that the main perpetrators will be moved to secure prisons.[1] The total number to be transferred is supposedly 46, with 10 of these going to high-security facilities.[2]
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i "Brazil jail riot in Para state leaves 57 dead as gangs fight". BBC News. 30 July 2019. Retrieved 7 March 2021.
- ^ a b c d e f g h "Brazil: Riot at Altamira jail leaves 57 dead – 16 decapitated". Sky News. 30 July 2019. Retrieved 30 July 2019.
- ^ a b c "Gang violence leaves more than 50 dead in Brazil prison riot". The Guardian. 29 July 2019. Retrieved 30 July 2019.
- ^ a b "In pictures: Aftermath of deadly prison fight". BBC News. 31 July 2019. Retrieved 4 August 2019.
- ^ a b "Scores killed in Brazil prison riot; 16 decapitated". Al Jazeera. 30 July 2019. Retrieved 30 July 2019.
- ^ THIRD GENERATION GANGS STRATEGIC NOTE NO. 19: COMANDO CLASSE A (CCA) MASSACRE OF COMANDO VERMELHO (CV) GANG MEMBERS IN ALTAMIRA PRISON, BRAZIL—58 DEAD (INCLUDING 16 DECAPITATIONS) Small Wars Journal August 6, 2019
- ^ a b "Brazil prison riot leaves 57 dead, 16 decapitated in "settling of accounts" between rival gangs". CBS News. 30 July 2019. Retrieved 2 August 2019.
- ^ "Four more inmates killed after deadly riot in Brazil". CNN. 31 July 2019. Retrieved 2 August 2019.
- v
- t
- e
- 1943 Featherston prisoner of war camp riot
- 1943 Sobibor extermination camp uprising
- 1943 Janowska concentration camp riot
- 1944 Cowra breakout
- 1946 Battle of Alcatraz
- 1953 Norilsk uprising
- 1953 Vorkuta uprising
- 1954 Kengir uprising
- 1959 Montana State Prison riot
- 1963 Pulau Senang prison riots
- 1971 Kingston Penitentiary riot
- 1971 Attica Prison riot
- 1974 Huntsville Prison siege
- 1976 HM Prison Hull riot
- 1980 New Mexico State Penitentiary riot
- 1985 Badaber Uprising
- 1985 Oklahoma State Penitentiary riot
- 1986 West Virginia State Penitentiary riot
- 1986 Peruvian prison massacres
- 1987 Atlanta prison riots
- 1988 Fremantle Prison riot
- 1989 SCI Camp Hill Pennsylvania riots
- 1989 Polish prison riots
- 1990 Leopoldov prison uprising
- 1990 Strangeways Prison riot
- 1990 Southport Correctional Facility riot
- 1991 Federal Correctional Institution, Talladega riot
- 1992 Carandiru massacre
- 1993 Southern Ohio Correctional Facility riot
- 1997 Khujand prison riot
- 2000 F-type prisons strike and riots
- 2001 Battle of Qala-i-Jangi
- 2003 Eagle Mountain riot
- 2004 Arizona State Prison Complex – Lewis riot
- 2006 North County Correctional Facility riot
- 2007 New Castle Correctional Facility riot
- 2008 United States Penitentiary, Florence riot
- 2008 La Mesa Prison riot
- 2009 Mexico prison riot
- 2011 HM Prison Ford riot
- 2012 Altamira prison brawl
- 2012 Apodaca prison riot
- 2012 Yare prison riot
- 2012 Welikada prison riot
- 2013 Uribana prison riot
- 2013 Palmasola prison riot
- 2015 Kaohsiung Prison riot
- 2016 Topo Chico prison riot
- 2016 Agricultural Penitentiary of Monte Cristo riot
- 2017 Kidapawan jail siege
- 2017 Brazil prison riots
- 2018 Valencia, Venezuela fire
- 2019 Acarigua prison riot
- 2019 Amazonas prison riots
- 2019 Altamira prison riot
- 2019 Cameroon prison riots
- 2020 Guanare prison riot
- 2020 Mahara prison riot
- 2021 February 2021 Ecuadorian prison riots
- 2021 September 2021 Guayaquil prison riot
- 2021 November 2021 Guayaquil prison riot
- 2021 Tula prison break
- 2022 Battle of al-Hasakah
- 2023 Támara prison riot