CAT/OP/BRA/1
stuffy cells, with inadequate or no sanitation, and inadequate or no bedding provided. The
SPT furthermore received consistent allegations of deprivation of food, water, as well as the
lack of access to fresh air and exercise in the case of prolonged police detention.
78.
The SPT recommends that the State party conduct a nation-wide audit into the
material state of police facilities, and establish a plan of action for the cleaning,
renovation and refurbishment of facilities. The State party should take the necessary
steps to ensure that conditions of detention in the country’s police facilities are
urgently brought in line with international standards, and that the basic needs of
persons deprived of their liberty are met with regard to sanitation, bedding, food,
water and possibility for exercise. Those in police detention for more than 24 hours
should be granted a minimum of one hour of outdoor exercise daily.
3.
Torture and ill-treatment
79.
The SPT received from interviewees repeated and consistent accounts of torture and
ill-treatment committed by, in particular, the military and civil police. Allegations included
threats, kicks and punches to the head and body, and blows with truncheons. Such beatings
took place in police custody, but also on the street, inside private homes, or in secluded
outdoor areas, at the moment of arrest. The torture and ill-treatment was described as
gratuitous violence, as a form of punishment, to extract confessions, and as a means of
extortion.
80.
The SPT also received numerous and consistent allegations from children and
adolescents of torture and ill-treatment suffered upon arrest and during police custody.
Children and adolescents alleged that the torture and ill-treatment committed by the
military police took place upon arrest and the methods included slaps, kicking and boxing
on all parts of the body. A female prisoner reported that she had been raped by two police
officers while in police custody.
81.
As for the treatment in police custody, one inmate stated that the methods of torture
used during his interrogation included suffocation by placing his head in a plastic bag,
electroshocks, psychological threats and cold showers for six days. The SPT also received
allegations of ill-treatment during police custody such as the obligation to sleep on the floor
in a filthy cell without proper access to sanitation, water and food, and the denial of health
care, including for children and adolescents allegedly wounded by the police.
82.
The SPT furthermore received allegations of beatings and ill-treatment as a form of
punishment. For example, one detainee stated that during his custody by the civil police for
a period of two days he was held in a dirty cell of approximately 8 m² holding 20 men, and
deprived of food and water. When the detainees complained and requested food and water,
they were beaten. Detainees also reported being kept in stress positions (for instance,
assuming a posture in which the body was supported by bended knees) for prolonged
periods of time during police custody.
83.
With regard to transportation, the SPT received consistent allegations of torture and
ill-treatment taking place in police vehicles, including through extreme overcrowding of
vehicles, prolonged detainment in vehicles, and beatings during transfers.
84.
In Polinter Grajaú some detainees feared for their lives. Here, the SPT received
consistent allegations that torture and ill-treatment was commonplace. These practices were
linked with the general tense atmosphere, the poor material conditions, and the corrupt
management of the facility.
85.
The SPT also observed the discriminatory treatment of persons deprived of their
liberty needing special protection (so-called “seguro”). In one facility visited, the SPT
found that the persons being held by the police in the “seguro” section were held in
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