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Brazil - OPCAT Situation

Updated 23.05.2013

Brazil ratified the OPCAT in 2007 and the NPM has not been designated yet at the Federal level. A draft NPM legislation was introduced at the the Congress in 2011 and is still under consideration.

Similarly to Argentina, OPCAT implementation has also started at the state level: legislations establishing local preventive mechanisms have been adopted in three States (Alagoas, Paraíba, Rio de Janeiro) while the State of Minas Gerais is examining a draft LPM legislation. The LPM from Rio de Janeiro has been operational since August 2011.

The SPT visited Brazil in September 2011 and the report was made public. Brazil decided to make its response public in November 2012.

The SPT member Felipe Villavicencio Terreros is the SPT Focal Point for Brazil.

Opcat status
OPCAT Ratification January 12, 2007
UNCAT Ratification September 28, 1989
SPT Member Ms Maria Margarida E. Pressburger (2011-2016)
NPM Designated

Under consideration at the federal level and initiatives at the state level

LPM Designated

Alagoas: State Mechanism to Prevent and Combat Torture

Minas Gerais: Under Consideration

Rio de Janeiro: Mechanism to Combat and Prevent Torture

LPM Type

Alagoas: New Specialised Institution

Rio: New Specialised Institution

LPM Legal framework

Alagoas: Law n°7.141/2009 (December 2009)

Rio de Janeiro: Law no 5778/2010 (30 June 2010)

Information
Population 190 732 694
Area (sq km) 8 511 965
Number of prisons 1 795
Prison population 494 237
Federal Structure Brazil is divided into 26 States and one Federal District
Quick links

SPT Visit: Report (19-30 September 2011) and Response from Brazil (January 2012)

Communication to the SPT: Official Correspondence from Brazil (5 November 2008) and Official Correspondence from Brazil (4 February 2010)

CAT Visit: Report (July 2005)

CAT: Concluding Observations (2001)

UPR: Report of the Working Group (May 2012)