E/CN.4/2001/66/Add.2 page 8 12. A number of delegados, as well as heads of pre-trial detention centres and prisons, drew the Special Rapporteur’s attention to the fact that the overcrowding, coupled with a lack of personnel resources, often led to high levels of tension between the staff and the detainee population, attempted escapes and often violent rebellions which could only be dealt with by the use of force. The tough treatment to which detainees were allegedly subjected was thus justified by some authorities by the need for the staff to control the detainee population and maintain order in places of detention. It must be noted that, on several occasions, the Special Rapporteur advised the authorities concerned to take immediate measures to ensure that appropriate medical treatment is provided to detainees. 13. Beatings are also said frequently to be used to punish inmates who allegedly have not respected the internal disciplinary rules. Special police units are often called in to restore order and security and the excessive use of force is common in such instances. Many allegations referred to members of the special units wearing hoods and using wooden and iron sticks and wires. Beatings were also said to occur the nights following a revolt or an attempted escape, as a form of punishment. Transfers to new places of detention are reported often to be accompanied by beatings by guards upon arrival, as a way of indicating to newcomers who is in charge. Detainees are allegedly made to run a gauntlet formed by the guards and security personnel who kick and punch them, often with sticks and chains, while reciting internal disciplinary rules (a technique referred to as the Polish corridor, corredor polonês). According to the information received, inmate-on-inmate violence is frequent in police lock-ups and prisons. The fact that recidivists convicted of violent crimes are held with first-time petty offenders, the harsh conditions of detention, the lack of effective supervision owing to the scarcity of security personnel, the lack of activities for detainees and the abundance of weapons brought into detention places, allegedly with the complicity of the police or prison personnel, are believed to be the main factors of this violence. In some instances, it was alleged that such violence was condoned or even encouraged by public authorities responsible for those places. 14. According to NGOs, with respect to the level of responsibility, some of the incriminated security personnel act out of ignorance and others out of pure habit, for they have acted that way for a long time without fear of any consequences, in particular during the military regime (1964-1985). However, the NGOs recognized the resolve of the federal and some state governments to end such practices, even if the steps taken are still met with caution. Indeed, they drew the Special Rapporteur’s attention to the fact that at least a certain degree of violence against suspected lawbreakers seems to be socially accepted, or even encouraged, the very concept of human rights being perceived as a way of protecting law-breakers. According to several non-governmental and some official sources, the common perception of the population at large is that persons under arrest or in detention deserve to be ill-treated, as well as to be held in bad conditions. It was therefore believed that political decision-makers were under pressure to fight criminality by all means rather than to combat torture. 15. The President of Brazil expressed his and his Government’s commitment to human rights and determination to tackle the problem of torture. In particular, he indicated that considerable efforts were currently being made to build new detention centres with a view to reducing the overcrowding, even though he acknowledged that too many people were arrested and detained unnecessarily. Similarly, the President of the Supreme Court recognized the need to pay closer attention to the problem of torture and indicated that judges were all educated in human rights.