Among the 62 Altamira Massacre Victims, 26 Were Still Awaiting Trial

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Of the 62 prisoners killed in Pará this week, 26 were still awaiting trial. In the massacre inside the prison on Monday, July 29th, 58 people died: 25 provisional detainees, 26 had been convicted and seven convicts were also awaiting trial on other cases.

On Wednesday, July 31st, four more prisoners died during the transfer in a cell truck. Among them, one was a provisional prisoner, one had been convicted, and two were convicts awaiting trial. The G1 news site collected the figures in the Pará justice system, and the state government confirmed the data.

The victims ranged in age from 18 to 52; the majority of them were charged with drug trafficking, homicide, and criminal association crimes. Among the 62 dead, 50 are from the state of Pará and 12 from other states.

A G1 national survey released in April showed that 35.9 percent of Brazilian prisoners had not yet been tried: 252,500 out of 754,200 inmates.

In Pará, there are 48 penitentiary facilities with a capacity for 9,934 prisoners, according to the Superintendence of the State Penitentiary System (SUSIPE). The prison population is 17,855 prisoners, of which 42.93 percent are provisional.