Weird Posted November 24, 2007 Report Share Posted November 24, 2007 http://www.guardian.co.uk/brazil/story/0,,2216171,00.html Girl 'raped and tortured' in cell with 20 men Tom Phillips in Rio de Janeiro Friday November 23, 2007 Guardian Unlimited Authorities in the Brazilian Amazon have come under fire after reports that a 16-year-old girl was repeatedly raped and tortured while being held in a prison cell with at least 20 men. According to reports in the Brazilian press, the teenager was arrested last month after being caught stealing in Abaetetuba, a town on the outskirts of Belem, the capital of the Amazon state Para. She reportedly spent 26 days in a cell at the local police station, although no formal charges were brought. This week the girl emerged from custody, covered in bruises and cigarette burns. Article continues -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The state governor, Ana Julia Carepa, ordered an immediate inquiry following claims that the teenager had been locked up with the male prisoners for at least a month and forced to have sex in exchange for food. Carepa told the Estado news agency there were signs that the girl had been deliberately imprisoned in order for other prisoners to sexually exploit her. On Thursday four policemen were suspended. "It does not matter if she is 15, 20, 50 or 80 years old. A woman should not be held in a cell together with men," the governor said. The regional human rights representative of Brazil's Lawyers Association, Mary Cohen, said she believed the girl had been subjected to "every imaginable type of physical and sexual aggression." The revelations have unearthed a series of other cases in which women were apparently imprisoned alongside men. On Wednesday there were reports that a 23-year-old woman had shared a cell with around 70 men in the Amazon town of Parauapebas, also in the state of Para. In a statement, Amnesty International's Brazil researcher, Tim Cahill, said: "We receive extensive reports of women in detention who suffer sexual abuse, torture, substandard healthcare and inhuman conditions, showing that this case is far from isolated but continues to be hidden from the public." Cahill added that the needs of women were "rarely if ever met" by Brazil's prison system. Small-town Amazonian prisons are often overcrowded, squalid and violent. Televised images of Abaetetuba's police station showed a decrepit white shack with tatty hammocks strung. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zzzz Posted November 24, 2007 Report Share Posted November 24, 2007 deleted Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Torneyboy Posted November 24, 2007 Report Share Posted November 24, 2007 Just horribly unbelievable Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Posted November 25, 2007 Report Share Posted November 25, 2007 I won't get much of a sympathy vote but are the U.S. prisons any different? I'm a bit of a hypocrite. I love the thought of child molesters and rapists getting raped, stabbed and beaten in prison. However, one really should be allowed to serve their time out in peace. I think I mentioned this a while back in another thread but I recall hearing all those stories of what its like in prison early on. Okay, one could say it kept me from doing anything too stupid but there are people who were convicted and are innocent and also those who have done things that any of us on here could be in prison. Even a short stay in the LA county or city jail for a night or two can be a harrowing experience and you could be subjected to rape or beatings if you were picked up with a suspended license, suspected of drinking and driving, any minor thing. It could easily be your your son, brother, neighbor, that find themselves in there. If you were some suburban kid, out to score some pot and bought enough for the party and you get stopped and the amount is deemed pass personal use to resale weight. Its illegal, yes, but its something that thousands of kids do. Doesn't make it right and they should be punished but is it deserving of being raped and beaten? If you're white its a guarantee. If you're lucky..very lucky...you may ..and I emphasize may...find a aryan group willing to take you in. But if you're in the LA city or county (or any large city's jail) even for a few hours in lock up till your parents or someone comes to bail you out and you're in there with 20 or 30 guys in a holding cell, something WILL happen to you. Not maybe, it will. We may all think it needs to be that way as a deterrent but the Saudis can make the same claim for women driving with someone other than their husband as well. What's the difference? I grew up hearing about things happening like that to people in our area. If that isn't worthy of Amnesty International then nothing is. Okay, someone please help me off my soapbox. lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Weird Posted November 25, 2007 Author Report Share Posted November 25, 2007 I won't get much of a sympathy vote but are the U.S. prisons any different? One question, does that justify this or make this okay in anyway? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Posted November 25, 2007 Report Share Posted November 25, 2007 Its sickening that a woman would be subjected to that. I am just saying some young kid in the U.S. prison system amounts to the exact thing. Because its a woman we may in our western culture see it as worse and I do as well, as we're raised to protect women and see them as the weaker sex, but trust me, inmates in U.S. prisons see some prisoners just about the same way as if a woman have entered their midst. They force them to act as women in their manner as well, some having to wear crude versions of make up, etc. and even to the extent of having their tormenters name tatooed on themselves. There should be a similar outcry for how prisoners who just want to serve out their time are treated in our prisons here as well. If that woman in the Brazilian prison had murdered someone, killed or molested a child, would you still think she deserved to be subjected to it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Posted November 25, 2007 Report Share Posted November 25, 2007 I wonder how the women's prisons are as well? The same thing that happens in men's prisons here happens in women's prisons as well. Its not reported much but women rape and beat other women in prisons here as much as the men do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Weird Posted November 25, 2007 Author Report Share Posted November 25, 2007 Maybe you missed my point. Sorry if I tried to do it too subtle. If you want to preach about the US prisons do it on a different thread. This whole trend (not just your post) where people take an issue and push it to the side to try to critize the US is old. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Posted November 25, 2007 Report Share Posted November 25, 2007 You're right I derailed the thread. Apologies. America basher? Far from it. I spend a lot of time on the forum adding some balance to the America's is evil incarnate posts. Just that we go on a lot about prisons in Thailand and other places and disregard what I think is a more brutal system here. But you're right, it belongs in its own thread. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zaad Posted November 27, 2007 Report Share Posted November 27, 2007 If that woman in the Brazilian prison had murdered someone, killed or molested a child, would you still think she deserved to be subjected to it? Yes! ... but all she did (as the report states) was stealing so I do feel for her. There must be a whole lot more to the story. I don't believe it was a regular case. Could've been a personal vendetta for all we know... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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