Almost 70% of people imprisoned in Brazil are Black

Brasil de Fato

Data from the recently released Brazilian Public Security Yearbook shows that, in 2023, 69.1% of incarcerated people in Brazil are Black. The results repeat a reality successively recorded by the study.

“At no point in the historical series – which covers the period between 2005 and 2023 – has racial representation been different. Therefore, we are dealing with a situation that has a color. It is reasonable to assume from this that the decision of who will be stopped, searched, detained and sentenced to prison is based on the person’s race,” the survey warns.

The majority of Black people in prisons are male; currently, more than 805,000 people are in these institutions in Brazil. Among women, the figure is 49,700. However, even outside of prison, they are victims of this brutal reality.

Responsible for heading a considerable part of the families of people in prison, women suffer the consequences of having to provide for their families while their partners are in prison.

“Women are the ones who continue to support their siblings, relatives, friends and acquaintances, as well as their descendants,” the survey stresses. In addition, the yearbook points out that, for women in jail, there is a lack of specific adaptations and measures, which are still not being put into practice in Brazil.

The United Nations has a set of regulations establishing guidelines for the treatment of women in prison. The Bangkok Rules take into account motherhood, family relationships and even the guarantee of appropriate hygiene items.

Also according to the yearbook, the application of these rules is monitored by the global organization Penal Reform International. Brazil is not listed as one of the countries that have initiatives to implement the Bangkok Rules.

Historic racial issue

The survey shows that the incarceration of Black people in Brazil has historic roots and influences the construction and maintenance of prejudices against this group.

 “With this racial stigma, produced by the negative definition of what it means to be a Black person, the challenge is to deconstruct the idea that Black people choose to be criminals. What happens is that they are pushed to commit crimes at much higher rates for the same behaviors that frame white people.”

As an example, the yearbook highlights the war on drugs problem. Of all the people convicted of drug trafficking, 68% are Black men, 72% are under 30 and 67% have a low level of education. Most investigations take place through house searches, without a warrant. In five capital cities, the analysis showed that these homes are in poor neighborhoods where most residents are Black.

In the introduction to the chapter presenting the racial issue in Brazilian prisons, the yearbook reminds readers that the problem permeates the entire history of the country.

With the title Sistema prisional brasileiro e o permanente mercado das carnes mais baratas [Brazilian prison system and the permanent market for the cheapest meat, in a rough translation], the section presents an overview of this reality, dating back to the ships that transported people kidnapped on the African continent and enslaved in Brazil.

The document explains the term “slave ship” in the Brazilian Encyclopedia of the African Diaspora, written by Nei Lopes. The definition exposes the conditions to which these people were subjected to to increase the profits of those who traded human lives.

Just like contemporary prisons, the reality was overcrowding, lack of food and water, and unhealthy environments with no ventilation, an accurate description of the conditions of the Brazilian prison system.

“On shelves less than a meter high, the enslaved people were crammed into ships’ holds. And it was there, lying side by side, naked and chained, that they received their meager food and satisfied their physiological needs. Occasionally, they were taken to the upper deck to breathe fresh air and loosen up their muscles. As a general rule, deaths were frequent, as well as physical degeneration,” says the yearbook.

The conditions and data recorded today prove that the brutality imposed on Black people in Brazil wasn’t overcome.

São Paulo has more than half the murders committed by off-duty police officers  

In 2023, São Paulo recorded more than half of the murders committed by off-duty police officers in Brazil, with 120 of the 211 deaths occurring in the state. The 18th Brazilian Public Security Yearbook highlights that police lethality in São Paulo is significantly higher than in other regions, with the Military Police being responsible for most cases.  

In addition, São Paulo has also been the scene of highly lethal formal police operations, such as Operations Shield and Summer, which resulted in 84 deaths between July 2023 and April 2024. These operations, marked by allegations of torture and summary executions, contributed to the increase in police violence in the state.  

Of 211 deaths by off-duty police officers in 2023 in the country, 120 were in São Paulo, according to the Brazilian Public Security Yearbook.