provision for an effective legal procedure by which to make Brazilian prisons conform to
standards of dignity.
THE INTERAMERICAN COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS
DECIDES:
1. To declare the present petition admissible regarding the alleged violations of Articles 4, 5, 8
and 25(1) of the American Convention, in relation to the obligations enshrined in Articles 1(1)
and 2 thereof;
2. To notify the State and the petitioners of this decision;
3. To continue with the analysis of the merits of the case;
4. To publish this report and include it in its Annual Report to the OAS General Assembly.
Done and signed at the headquarters of the InterAmerican Commission on Human Rights, in
st
Washington, D.C., on the 21
day of the month of October, 2006. (Signed): Evelio Fernández
Arévalos, President, Florentín Meléndez, Second Vicepresident, Freddy Gutiérrez, Paolo
Carozza and Víctor Abramovich, members of the Commission.
List of inmates who have died since November 2000 at the Casa de Detenção José
Mario Alves, known as “Urso Branco” Prison in Porto Velho, state of Rondônia, Brazil
23
Name
Date
Cause
Phase of Inquiry/Proceeding
24
1.
Alessandro
de
Souza
Pinho
2.
Aurimaci
Cavalcante
dos Santos
3 November 2000
Killed in
uprising
18 January 2001
3.
Dithley da
Silva Daniel
04 May 2001
4.
Josías
Portugal
de
Almeida
04 May 2001
5.
Edson
Sarmento
Brasil
16 May 2001
Allegedly killed
by
inmates
Shirleno Barroso
da
Costa,
Ednildo Paulo de
Souza
and
Alderley
Carvalho
Assemi,
who
purportedly beat
him to death
with a “chuço”.
Killed
(no
additional
details).
Killed, allegedly
by
inmate
Romualdo
Antônio
Gonçalves
Aragão, who was
armed with a
“chuço”.
Killed, allegedly
by inmate José
de
Arimatéia
Nogueira
Queiroz,
who
purportedly beat
the victim to
death using a
“chuço”.
an
No information
Shirleno Barroso da Costa was
killed in an escape attempt;
Alderley Carvalho Assemi was
sentenced to 17 years in prison,
and Ednildo Paulo de Souza is
still being prosecuted for the
murder
(Case
No.
501.2001.0022134)
No information
Case No. 501.2001.0023971 is
on hold until the individual is
recaptured. He has been a
fugitive from justice since
August 8, 2001.
The alleged murderer was
charged on May 29, 2001, and
the finding of probable cause
was on September 25, 2001,
based on Article 409 of the
Brazilian Penal Code. In court,
José de Arimatéia denied being
the author of the crime. He
testified that another inmate had
The information contained in this list is from the reports sent to the Commission by the State and by the petitioners,
the Global Justice Center and the Peace and Justice Commission of the Porto Velho Archdiocese,
24
The information in this list is the most recent information supplied by the parties, and does not necessarily reflect the
most recent stage of the proceedings.
23
9