General Director of the National Penitentiary Department (DEPEN) Brazil *
JT: The population of Brazil increased by more than 400% between the end of the 90s and the present day, going from less than 200,000 prisoners to the current number which, according to Sources from the National Council of Justice (CNJ), exceeds 812,000. What exactly has DEPEN’s function and scope of action been in Brazil, and how can DEPEN support penitentiary reform at the federal and state levels?
FB: The National Penitentiary Department (DEPEN) is linked to the Ministry of Justice and supports states in technical matters of prison management. We also manage the national penitentiary fund, which is a public fund directed towards penitentiary investments. This fund is capitalised with resources from criminal fines, lottery games, among others. In this context, DEPEN manages and systematically distributes to all units of the Federation. DEPEN does not directly manage state units. Brazil is a Federation which has 26 states that have their own penitentiary systems. DEPEN seeks to unify and induce some policies, to help states, and to be a fostering agency to improve the prison system.
DEPEN also acts in moments of penitentiary crisis. We still have a lot of problems with the control of the prison units. Brazil was left for a long time without investing in prison units in a systematic manner and this led some criminals to unite and create factions. Brazil’s main criminal factions are born inside prisons. We also work on the restoration of control of these more chaotic units in coordination with the Federation units. Whenever a crisis occurs, for example in 2019 in the state of Amazonas, DEPEN brings together prison agents in several states to help the state in question overcome the crisis. DEPEN also helps to aggregate cooperation among all federative entities to overcome penitentiary crises, arising from a historical problem of a lack of policies to improve the quality of the prison service in Brazil.
JT: But do you also have a federal prison management system?
FB: Yes. DEPEN directly manages 5 federal prisons where the main criminal leaders of all states are sent. We have a small, qualitative system. Only the inmate with a negative leader profile goes to federal prisons. There are some similarities, for example, with the Italian prison. This system has helped to diminish the influence of criminal organizations in state prisons, but it is a process that will take some years to improve, as will the control situation in Brazilian prison units.