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government declared the state of “emergency” in its penitentiary institutions and
created a Task Force formed, among others, by representatives of the Secretary of
Justice, Administration, Planning and General Coordination, Health and Finance, in
order to take actions in the penitentiary system as a priority. On October 16, 2008, the
abovementioned Task Force met for the first time in order to plan action strategies. On
the other hand, Brazil informed that the CDDPH has periodically met every two
months, despite the denial of the representatives to participate in those meetings. It
considered that the representatives participation in said meetings to be of paramount
importance for the work of the above mentioned commission and it hoped they
reconsidered their position.
34.
That the representatives informed that they have cooperated with the
Procurador General de la República [State Attorney General] in the scope of the
request of federal takeover, through the supply of information regarding the situation
of the Penitentiary, including claims of torture. On December 9, 2008, they requested
the STF to be included in such a proceeding as simple assistants of the Procurador
General de la República [State Attorney General] as, in their opinion, they may
contribute in a decisive manner to the analysis of the federal takeover proceedings.
They considered that said request had positive effects, such as a greater visibility of
the problem, the promotion of the dialogue between the national government and the
government of the state of Rondônia, the impulse of the visit of the Consejo Nacional
de Justicia [Justice National Council] to the Prison and the declaration of the state of
emergency on the part of the government of Rondônia. However, they stated that
there are still no concrete and effective measures to solve the Urso Branco situation,
that they are afraid that the above mentioned measures do not entail real changes in
the situation of the beneficiaries and that they only seek to avoid the federal takeover
order. They further expressed that their order to withdraw from the CDDPH does not
mean the abandonment of the monitoring of the compliance with the provisional
measures and that they continue to monitor the observance of the Court orders and to
claim the violations against human rights of those deprived of liberty at the Urso
Branco Prison.
35.
That the Commission took cognizance of the information forwarded by the State
and the representatives with respect to the request of the Procuraduría General de la
República [State Attorney General Office] of federal takeover in the penitentiary
system of Rondônia. It pointed out that it expected information on the results of that
measure and, despite the emergency declaration on the part of the state of Rondônia
in 2008, it is not clear whether the initiatives have a real and effective impact in the
provisional measures. Finally, the Commission expressed its concern on the withdrawal
of the representatives from the CDDPH and on the lack of coordination between the
State and the representatives in the process of design and supervision of the
implementation of these provisional measures.
36.
That the Court appreciates the actions of the State, among which the following
can be mentioned: request of federal takeover of the penitentiary system of the state
of Rondônia, joint work of both national and state institutions to protect the life and
physical integrity of the beneficiaries and improvement of the detention conditions of
the Penitentiary. The Court further appreciates the articulation of both the federal and
the state government and the different State domestic institutions, in order to
implement these provisional measures.
37.
That, in that same sense, the Court appreciates the work of civil society
organizations which have contributed with information and observations during the