JUVENILE OFFENDERS FREED DURING ASSAULT IN BRASILIA

UNCLAS BRASILIA 000320

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: KCRM PGOV PHUM BR TIP
SUBJECT: JUVENILE OFFENDERS FREED DURING ASSAULT IN BRASILIA

REF: BRASILIA 02919


1. Summary. On January 30, armed men in Brasilia freed two
teenage detainees from a vehicle and held six others hostage
while en route to the CAJE juvenile detention center. The
CAJE facility is often criticized for understaffing,
overcrowding, and poor security. End Summary.


2. On the evening of January 30, a vehicle transporting six
teenaged detainees to Brasilia's CAJE juvenile detention
center was intercepted by three armed men. The assailants
freed two detainees and held the others, as well as the CAJE
security officers and the driver, hostage for one hour. The
escapees had a history of violence: one has twelve prior
offenses the other is under investigation for three
homicides.


3. CAJE holds approximately 375 youths though its official
capacity is 196. The facility employs 15 unarmed guards.
Detainees serve a maximum of three years; violent robbery is
the most common offense. Although approximately 30
adolescents leave CAJE daily, armed guards are rarely used
for transports and police escorts are not required for the
transport of less than twenty detainees. Critics such as
Federal District Representative Erika Kokay fault CAJE for
inadequate facilities, understaffing, violence, poor
security, and unsatisfactory treatment of mentally ill
internees.


4. COMMENT: Brasilia has about one-tenth the population of
Sao Paulo and Rio, and has avoided some of the gravest public
security crises seen in those cities, both in the streets and
in the jails. Although Brasilia once seemed immune to the
prison violence that plagues larger cities, it is now being
forced to confront the same public security issues albeit on
a much smaller scale.

DANILOVICH