Brazilian prison riots over, officials say

February 19, 2001 At least 12 people were killed and thousands of prison employees and relatives of inmates were taken hostage on Sunday following a mass uprising in the 24 prisons in the Brazilian state of Sao Paulo. State officials said that everything is now under control, with inmates agreeing to release the last of their hostages and end the massive prison riot. An inmate gang coordinated the riot using cell phones, demanding the return of ten inmates transferred between prisons, with more than 15,000 prisoners ultimately involved in the uprising.

SAO PAULO, Brazil (CNN) -- Authorities swept through Brazil's large Carandiru prison Monday after inmates released the last of their hostages and agreed to end a massive 24-institution prison riot across Sao Paulo state, police officials said.

Hundreds of inmates remained out of their cells, authorities said, because police intended to process the inmates in the presence of observers to head off allegations of retaliation.

At least 12 people were killed in the coordinated riots that started Sunday when inmates began taking hostages during visiting day. The dead were all inmates killed as authorities fought to take back control of the facilities.

At the peak of the disturbances, more than 15,000 inmates were involved in actions at 24 facilities. Authorities had taken all but Carandiru back from the rioting inmates by late Monday morning.

The riots began simultaneously at midday Sunday and were apparently organized by the criminal network Capitals First Command (PCC).

The group is one of three large gangs operating inside Brazilian prisons. It was unclear how the group coordinated the actions, but police said inmates were using mobile phones to communicate with each other and with relatives outside the prisons.

Police would not say how the inmates were able to get the phones.

Jail gang common riot participant

The largest of the riots took place at Carandiru prison, where about 8,000 inmates at one point held about 3,000 hostages, among them women, children and prison staff.

Police stormed Carandiru at about 4 p.m. Sunday in an effort to end the riot, firing rubber-coated steel bullets as they entered.

State Security Secretary Marco Vinicio Petrelluzzi said eight inmates died during the first 10 hours of riots. Three of them were killed by guards in Carandiru prison, Latin America's biggest penitentiary.

Overcrowding and poor conditions have made riots common at Carandiru prison, but Sunday's action was the largest ever seen in Brazil, police said.

Many past riots have involved the PCC, which was demanding the return of inmates transferred last week from Carandiru to another jail after being accused of killing fellow inmates.

Nagashi Furukawa, state secretary of prison administration, called the prisoners' demand "absurd."

"If there were a reasonable demand we would analyze it," he said. "But from the start the demand was something couldn't agree to."

Family members fear worst

Hundreds of family members of inmates gathered outside Carandiru, some of them throwing objects at police lined up in front of the main gate, as the uprising progressed.

Some feared a repeat of a bloody 1992 prison rebellion at Carandiru in which 111 inmates were shot to death when police stormed the prison.

"I was there visiting cellblock four, and I saw police shooting three prisoners in the back," said Clara Maria Martins Kalil.

Local television broadcast pictures of inmates writing the words "Peace, Justice and Freedom" inside the jail.