This archive report was first published on 29 July 2019.
Latin America has witnessed some of the deadliest prison riots in recent years, with a significant majority of these incidents occurring in the region.
Deadliest Incidents ¶
Over the past three decades, several massive riots have left at least 100 people dead, often involving fires and widespread violence.
One of the deadliest incidents occurred in 2005 at a prison in the Dominican Republic's eastern city of Higuey, where a fire broke out after a dawn riot, resulting in the deaths of at least 135 people.
Another notable incident took place in 1994 at Sabaneta prison in Venezuela's northern city of Maracaibo, where 121 inmates were killed after prisoners set fire to three prison blocks during a riot.
Additionally, in 1992, 111 prisoners were killed when security forces put down a mutiny at the enormous Carandiru jail outside Sao Paulo in Brazil.
Outside of Latin America, the worst incident occurred in 1995 in Algeria, where security forces shot and killed around 100 inmates in response to an escape bid by rioting Muslim fundamentalist prisoners at a high-security Algiers jail.
Brazil's Prison Crisis ¶
Brazil's overcrowded prisons have been plagued by deadly riots, with the country having the world's third-largest prison population in 2016, with nearly 727,000 prisoners registered.
The prison population is roughly double the capacity of the nation's jails, leading to severe overcrowding and increasing the risk of violent incidents.
Recent examples of deadly riots in Brazil include the killing of at least 55 prisoners in several jails over two days in the southern state of Amazonas in late May 2019.
On April 11, 2018, at least 21 people died in an attempted breakout from a prison near the northern city of Belem.
Additionally, in early 2017, deadly riots left around 100 prisoners dead in the space of a month, with many being brutally killed and some even disemboweled.
Recent Incidents ¶
Other Latin American countries have also witnessed violent prison mutinies in recent years.
On May 25, at least 29 prisoners were killed in clashes at a jail in the town of Acarigua, western Venezuela.
March 28, 2018, saw one of the worst prison riots in Venezuela, with 68 people dying in a blaze in a police station jail in the northern city of Valencia.
Additionally, in 2017, two prison riots in Mexico left 16 dead in the central town of Cadereyta and 28 in the southern city of Acapulco.
