Brazil Inmates Release Hostages, End Riot
Inmates at a prison in southern Brazil ended a two-day uprising Wednesday after releasing guards and other prisoners they had taken hostage, officials said.
A spokesman for the Parana state's justice secretary said 28 prisoners will be transferred from the jail in Guarapuava to other detention centers in the state and in neighboring Santa Catarina state.
"The rebellion ended," the spokesman added.
He said the prisoners had demanded the transfers as a condition for ending the rebellion.
The uprising began on Monday, with rioting inmates taking 12 inmates and several guards hostage. All were released without injuries, according to the spokesman.
During the rebellion, Globo News television showed three half-naked men, allegedly guards, sitting on the roof of a pavilion with their hands tied. At least one of them was beaten by an inmate.
The prison houses 240 inmates.
The mutiny was the fifth at prisons in Parana in recent weeks and the 21st this year, according to the regional prison officer's union, Sindarspen.
In August, five prisoners were killed -- two of them beheaded -- during a two-day mutiny by inmates at a prison in the town of Cascavel.
In the northern city of Sao Luis de Maranhao, the infamous penitentiary of Pedrinhas has been the frequent scene of prison violence and escape attempts.
Last month, two prisoners were slain at a jail in the northern region of Amazonia.
With about 563,000 prisoners nationwide, Brazil's jails are bursting at the seams.
There are 274 people in prison per 100,000 residents, according to the International Center of Penitentiary Studies. The NGO Conectas says the country needs to boost capacity by 207,000 to overcome severe overcrowding.
The country has the fourth largest prison population in the world, after the United States, China and Russia, according to rights group Amnesty International.
Source: Agence France Presse
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