CAT/OP/BRA/2/Add.1 (d) Human rights courses for postgraduates in the broad sense. According to the National Prison Service School, between 2006 and 2011, courses were offered in the framework of the National Network for Advanced Studies in Public Safety, training 800 individuals at 10 different higher education institutions, both public and private, in the five regions of Brazil. 142. Thus a substantial effort has been made in recent years to provide training for public servants, especially those working in the area of public safety, on human rights and combating torture. 1. Remuneration in the prison services 143. As the Subcommittee noted, the remuneration of public servants working in places of deprivation of liberty plays a decisive role in the quality of service provided to that population. It should therefore be noted that the Federal Government is responsible for the federal prison system and prison staff are paid around 10 times the minimum wage. 144. Although wages are regulated locally in the states of the federation, the Federal Government set up a working group in 2013 to address the role of prison officers in Brazil, reach a common definition of the profession, and standardize their training across the country. The group was created in the context of two meetings that were held in 2013 with representatives of the National Federation of Prison Official Trade Unions, the Brazilian Federation of Prison Officials and federal prison officers trade unions. 145. It should be noted that the states of Espírito Santo, Goiás, Río de Janeiro and São Paulo, which were visited by the Subcommittee, already offer special training and career paths for prison officers and periodically hold public competitive examinations to select them. 2. Measures to reduce the rate of incarceration and incentives for the adoption of alternative measures 146. While it is known that overcrowding in prisons undermines the guarantee of other fundamental rights of persons deprived of their liberty, the Brazilian Government recognizes the challenge posed by rising incarceration rates in the country. A study conducted by the Centre for the Study of Violence, University of São Paulo, which was published in 2011, found that close to 88 per cent of prisoners were deprived of their liberty for the entire duration of legal proceedings. According to data from INFOPEN, there were 184,284 pretrial detainees in 2012, reflecting the complexity of the problem facing Brazil with respect to prolonged police custody.23 147. In terms of legislation, Federal Act No. 9099/95, which established special criminal courts at the state level, prohibited imprisonment for petty criminal offences, and required alternative penalties for offences for which the combined penalty was less than or equal to 1 year’s imprisonment. Moreover, under Act No. 10259/2001, which established special criminal courts at the federal level, petty offences were defined as ones for which the penalty was less than or equal to 2 years’ imprisonment. Thus Act No. 10259/2001 increased the number of cases in which alternative penalties were required. 148. With a view to further reducing prolonged police custody, Act No. 12403/11 on imprisonment and precautionary measures during criminal proceedings was adopted, which 23 32 Maria Gorete Marques de Jesus et al., Prisión Provisoria y Ley de Drogas: un estudio sobre los flagrantes del trafico de drogas en la ciudad de São Paulo. [Electronic resource]/Centre for the Study of Violence, São Paulo, SP, Brasil, 2011. GE.14-42059