São Paulo's Public Prosecutor's Office opens investigation into torture at Fundação Casa.
"The images are shocking, but not surprising. Unfortunately, we receive reports of assaults committed by employees regularly. Almost weekly, some complaint of assault reaches the Public Prosecutor's Office, but assaults in closed settings, which leave no marks, are rarely proven," said the Public Prosecutor for Children and Youth, Matheus Jacob Fialdini.
Bruno Bocchini
Reporter from Agência Brasil
São Paulo – The Public Prosecutor’s Office (MP) of the State of São Paulo opened an investigation today (19) to investigate the occurrence of torture and beatings of inmates at Fundação Casa, in the capital of São Paulo. Yesterday (18), the program Fantástico, on Rede Globo, showed scenes in which two employees of the João do Pulo Unit, in Vila Maria, beat and torture six teenagers. The assaults were recorded in May of this year.
“The images are shocking, but not surprising. Unfortunately, we receive reports of assaults committed by employees regularly. Almost weekly, some complaint of assault reaches the Public Prosecutor's Office, but assaults in closed settings, which leave no marks, are rarely proven,” said the Public Prosecutor for Children and Youth, Matheus Jacob Fialdini. “It's not always the case that an employee is willing to record and provide the images,” he added.
Based on interviews conducted today with the social-educational agents who work with the adolescents interned at the unit, the prosecutor found that the staff are not being trained, nor are they receiving ongoing training courses. "The reports converge on approximately 15 days [of training]. This seemed very little to us. Especially if we consider that, after the initial training, they practically receive no ongoing training. We found employees, believe it or not, who have been at Fundação Casa for 30 years without a single course, without any training," Fialdini emphasized. According to him, the lack of staff training was already the subject of action by the Public Prosecutor's Office.
In a statement, the Casa Foundation reported that, as soon as it became aware of the torture allegations against the six inmates at the Vila Maria complex, it ordered the removal of all involved employees and the immediate initiation of an internal investigation to look into the case. The names of those involved were not released.
The assaulted teenagers were transferred to the Fundação Casa unit in Brás. "The staff members will be subject to administrative proceedings, with full right to defense, and will suffer the applicable sanctions, including the possibility of dismissal for just cause," informed the foundation, which says it is collaborating with the State Public Prosecutor's Office, which will be responsible for any possible criminal proceedings.
According to the foundation, employees receive ongoing training, in accordance with the criteria established in the Statute of Children and Adolescents and the National System of Socio-educational Care. "New administrative staff receive 16 hours of training, while technical staff (psychologists, social workers, and socio-educational support agents, among others) undergo 80 hours of training, divided into basic and specific modules," the foundation added.
Editing: Nadia Franco