6
leads to believe that the young person would have committed suicide, and c)
regarding the confinement units where, according to the representatives, recent
violence occurrences would have taken place, “none of such units […] holds
beneficiaries [of the instant measures].”
10.
That the representatives stated, among other things, that two weeks before it
was closed down, they visited the Complexo do Tatuapé and verified situations in
which the human rights of the adolescents were being violated. Likewise, they pointed
out that the beneficiaries have been transferred to other Foundation confinement
units, the salient features of which, in general, are overpopulation, inadequate living
and health conditions, the practice of torture and mistreatment perpetrated by staff
members against inmates, and their protracted isolation as a form of disciplinary
punishment. The representatives also pointed out that the State appealed the decision
by the Tribunal de Justicia del Estado de São Paulo (São Paulo Court of Justice) issued
on May 5, 2008, whereby it ordered administrative decision No. 90/2005, which
prevented the representatives and other civil society organizations from entering
confinement units, to be set aside. They furthermore stated that the same staff
members who had been accused of practicing acts of violence against the beneficiaries
were also transferred to other Foundation units, and continue working and living with
the adolescents. In the view of the representatives, the violations to which the
adolescents were subjected have not ceased. Along such lines, they gave an account
of acts of violence that would have occurred in Foundation units where no beneficiaries
of the instant measures are committed and regarding the units wherein beneficiaries
are confined, they stated that:
a) beneficiary R.R.S.B. was found lifeless in the Internato Pirituba on May 20,
2008, apparently after committing suicide. Regarding which, the
representatives underscored that the Foundation authorities knew, mainly from
communications from the inmate’s mother, that the latter had psychiatric
problems, a history of emotional instability and had tried to commit suicide
before. In spite of which the beneficiary did not receive form the State such
care as his health condition required;
b) in June, 2008, the Brazilian press reported that, after a rebellion, seven
adolescents escaped from the Encosta Norte unit. As a result of such rebellion,
an adolescent and three staff members were wounded;
c) Between September 11 and October 16, 2008, the representatives visited eight
CASA Foundation units,4 and in some of them they heard, among other
situations, about outbursts of aggression perpetrated by staff members, about
4
The units visited were the following: Bela Vista, Abaeté and Adoniran Barbosa, of the Vila Maria
Complex; Tapajós (UI-29), Internato Franco da Rocha and Unit 21, of the Franco da Rocha Complex; the
Vila Leopoldina unit and the Três Rios de Iaras unit. Furthermore, the representatives visited the Núcleo de
Atención Integral al Adolescente (NAISA) (Full Adolescent Care Core), responsible for affording medical care
to the confined adolescents, part of the Complexo de Vila Maria. In the course of the visits effected, the
representatives verified the presence of beneficiaries confined in the Adoniran Barbosa, Tapajós, Internato
Franco da Rocha, Vila Leopoldina and Três Rios units.