O Sistema Prisional Brasileiro à Luz Dos Parâmetros da Corte Interamericana de Direitos Humanos

Abstract

This article examines the structural crisis of the Brazilian prison system from the perspective of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, assessing the effectiveness of Conventionality Control in the face of recurring rights violations in penitentiaries. It analyzes whether international condemnation can bring about concrete changes in the system and how the national judiciary responded to the state's inaction. The research, deductive and qualitative in nature, uses bibliography, documents, case law of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (the Urso Branco and Complexo do Curado cases), Supreme Federal Court decisions, and the Penal Enforcement Law. The results indicate that the crisis reached its peak in Pedrinhas, Maranhão, where violence and gang control highlighted th inability of federal entities to apply international standards and comply with the Brazilian Penal Code (LEP). Faced with this failure, the Supreme Federal Court recognized the Unconstitutional State of Affairs (ECI) in ADPF 347/DF. Although the Inter-American Court of Human Rights did not directly prevent the massacre, its indirect action was decisive in prompting the Supreme Court's intervention The ECI consolidates the Inter-American System as an instrument to overcome state inaction and enables a supervised restructuring capable of restoring the dignity of prisoners and ensuring the application of constitutional and criminal legality.