O Carandiru massacre was a massacre carried out after a police action in Carandiru, an old penitentiary that existed in São Paulo, on October 2, 1992. This police action was carried out as a way to contain an ongoing inmate rebellion in Pavilion 9 and resulted in the death of 111 inmates.
The police violence in this case had national and international repercussions. There were numerous criticisms of the way the police team acted, and an investigation showed that there was excessive force on the part of the police. The commander of the operation, Colonel Ubiratan Guimarães, was sentenced to prison, but his sentence was reversed.
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Topics of this article
- 1 - Summary of the Carandiru massacre
- 2 - What was the Carandiru massacre?
- 3 - How did the Carandiru massacre happen?
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4 - Consequences of the Carandiru massacre
- Video lesson on the Brazilian prison system
- 5 - Judgment of those responsible for the Carandiru massacre
Summary about the Carandiru massacre
The Carandiru massacre was a police massacre carried out in a penitentiary called Carandiru in 1992.
The police action was carried out to contain an inmate rebellion in Pavilion 9.
Police intervention resulted in 111 deaths.
Part of those responsible for the massacre were convicted in court, but have not yet served their sentence.
Carandiru was closed ten years after the massacre.
What was the Carandiru massacre?
The Carandiru Massacre is the name by which a prisoner massacre that took place in the São Paulo House of Detention, popularly known as Carandiru, on October 2, 1992. This crime was carried out during a prisoner rebellion in Pavilion 9 and was the result of a clumsy police action, accused of acting deliberately to kill the prisoners. In all, 111 prisoners were killed.
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How did the Carandiru massacre happen?
The precise details of how the massacre took place are quite inconsistent, but everything started with a fight between two inmates. They were housed in Pavilion 9, formed by first offenders, and the motivation for the fight would have been a rivalry due to the fact that both belonged to enemy criminal factions.
A brawl spread to the pavilion and turned into a riot widespread, which was marked by the destruction of cells and the burning of mattresses by detainees. That pavilion contained 2706 detainees, and on the day of the rebellion, the Military Police were summoned to control the situation.
Altogether, the police sent 341 police, who were armed with large caliber weapons, bombs and dogs. Reports say that the police opened fire on the detainees using rifles and two types of submachine guns. The police action resulted in the death of 111 inmates and put an end to the rebellion in Carandiru. In addition, 110 detainees were injured.
Of the 111 dead, 84 were awaiting trial to be convicted or acquitted of the crimes they had committed. On the side of the police, there were no deaths.. This police action is considered, until today, the most lethal of the police in penitentiaries. Colonel Ubiratan Guimarães was responsible for the police operation that intervened in the rebellion.
The intervention in the Carandiru rebellion was authorized by the Secretary of Public Security of São Paulo, Pedro Franco de Campos. The violence of the police action shocked society and generated criticism from institutions that defend the drightsHhumans. Criticisms were directed both at the government of state of São Paulo as for the police.
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Consequences of the Carandiru massacre
In addition to the death of 111 detainees, the Carandiru massacre had numerous consequences, starting with the resignation of the secretary of Public Security of São Paulo, Peter Franco. In his place, he was appointed Michel Temer. The repercussions of this case were not only national, but also affected Brazil's image internationally.
O Brazil was denounced at the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, and the Brazilian government's response was to give guarantees that the massacre would be investigated and those responsible would be blamed for the crimes committed. However, few effective actions were taken by the Justice, and those responsible for the massacre were not punished for the crime after three decades.
the massacre too changed the training of military police and changed the prison system in São Paulo, increasing the number of prisons exponentially as a way to reduce the capacity of existing penitentiaries. Some analysts point out that the Carandiru massacre would have generated a reaction from crime in São Paulo, causing a kind of criminal professionalization that would have led to the emergence of the First Command of the Capital, the CCP.
The repercussions of the case also contributed to Carandiru being deactivated ten years later. Part of the buildings that formed the penitentiary were demolished in 2002.
Video lesson on the Brazilian prison system
Trial of those responsible for the Carandiru massacre
Colonel responsible for commanding the operation, Ubiratan Guimarães was tried and convicted by popular jury, but had his sentence reversed in 2006 by the Court of Justice of São Paulo. The expertise carried out showed that most of the dead were not out of their cells, which demonstrates a police action with the intention of killing.
After the reversal of his sentence, the colonel was murdered in his apartment. His murder was unrelated to the massacre, but it happened for passionate reasons, being carried out by his girlfriend at the time. Additionally, dozens of police officers were convicted for their actions on the day of the massacre, but none of them are in prison.
Altogether, 73 police officers were accused and convicted of the 111 murders in Carandiru. Penalties reach up to 624 years in prison. In 2016, the sentence for these police officers was annulled by three judges, but in 2022, the conviction was upheld in a trial carried out by the Federal Supreme Court. These convicted police officers continue to respond to the process in freedom.
There is also a bill that proposes to grant amnesty to convicted police officers with the allegation that the police action was justified as a way to contain the violence of detainees in rebellion. In addition, this project also addresses the difficulties of penalizing oneself individually in such complex contexts, as in the case of this massacre.
By Daniel Neves
History teacher
Would you like to reference this text in a school or academic work? Look:
SILVA, Daniel Neves. "Carandiru Massacre"; Brazil School. Available in: https://brasilescola.uol.com.br/historiab/massacre-do-carandiru.htm. Accessed on April 13, 2023.
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