Public Prosecutor's Office files lawsuit against Government for overcrowding in Inpatient Unit.
The Public Prosecutor's Office for Children and Youth of the Capital filed two petitions this Monday (29) with the 1st Court for Children and Youth of the Capital against the State of Alagoas so that, within ten days, the problem of overcrowding in the Male Inpatient Units (UIM) and the Youth and Adult Inpatient Unit (UIJA), in Maceió, and in the Provisional Inpatient Unit (UIP), in Rio Largo, be resolved. The action asks the Judiciary to freeze the government's account if buildings with adequate physical structure are not made available to receive adolescents. The prosecutor also accuses the State of disrespecting the ECA by keeping young people from the capital in the UIP of Rio Largo.
Alagoas247 - The petitions demand that Governor Vilela (PSDB), the State Secretary for the Promotion of Peace, and the State Attorney General provide buildings with adequate and sufficient physical infrastructure to house male adolescents and young people serving provisional or sentenced detention orders. Public Prosecutor Alexandra Beurlen requested that the Judiciary freeze R$ 500 and R$ 1 million from the State's single account to cover expenses related to locating and adapting the buildings necessary to fulfill this obligation, respectively in the units of Rio Largo and Maceió.
The Public Prosecutor's Office also requested that the Judiciary determine the placement of adolescents from the capital and the interior, respectively, in the detention units of Maceió and Rio Largo. The Rio Largo facility should receive a maximum of 24 inmates, which corresponds to the number of available spaces in the unit.
The male inpatient unit in the capital currently houses 36 young people aged 12 to 21 (not yet 21), although it has the capacity to house only 29 inmates due to the building's physical structure and staffing limitations. The extension in Rio Largo should serve a number exceeding the 36 inmates in Maceió. With three dormitories, each with a bathroom and eight beds, its capacity is 24 places for an average stay of 45 days. However, during a visit by the Public Prosecutor's Office to the unit in the interior on April 24th, the presence of 33 inmates from the capital and other cities was observed.
According to the public prosecutor, Maceió alone needs 50 permanent spaces to responsibly care for provisional detainees, while the project presented by the state government for the reform of the capital's UIM (Unit for Socio-Educational Internment) intends to create only four new spaces. "The State of Alagoas needs to address the problem of socio-education once and for all, in a professional, planned manner, with commitment and respect for human beings, especially when dealing with adolescents, who are an absolute priority," stated Buerlen.
The UIP (Unit for the Protection of Children and Adolescents) in Rio Largo was created to renovate the building in the capital, but now, overcrowded, it is unable to receive all the inmates from the UIM (Unit for the Protection of Children and Adolescents) in Maceió, making the renovation impossible. "The renovation of the UIM building in the capital is urgent and indispensable, but it cannot be done at the cost of violating the Statute of the Child and Adolescent and the dignity of the inmates," added Beurlen.
The prosecutor also accuses the State of disrespecting the ECA (Statute of the Child and Adolescent) by keeping young people from the capital in the UIP (Unit for Internment and Provisional Detention) of Rio Largo, since the legislation stipulates that the inmate should be placed in a unit near their family's residence, in this case the UIM (Unit for Internment and Provisional Detention) of Maceió. In this sense, the Rio Largo building should only be used to house temporary detainees who live in the interior of Alagoas.
With gazetaweb.com