The deaths of almost 100 inmates since the beginning of the year in Brazilian prisons does not come as a surprise for Fr Valdir Joao Silveira, national coordinator of the Brazilian bishops' prison ministry.
"Prison is a place of death and torture," in Brazil, said Fr Silveira.
"It is a factory of torture that creates monsters," he told Catholic News Service before leaving a trip to the Amazon region to meet with family members of inmates at prisons in the state of Amazonas.
Fr Silveira said if the prisons had animals instead of inmates, there would be international animal protection agencies campaigning against the cruelty and pressuring local, state and federal governments in Brazil for change. "What we need is international attention to this question, to force authorities to take action," he said.
