The Virtual Spiritist Gazette Kardec Punto Com (KPC), a monthly electronic publication, edited in João Pessoa, Brazil, offered an interview with the president of CEPA, Jacira Jacinto da Silva, last February, on the question of Prisons and criminal executions, in
Brazil, whose contents we reproduce in full:
THE MAGISTRATE SAYS THAT THE PENITENTIARY SYSTEM MAY BE IMPROVED FROM THE COMPLIANCE OF THE OLD AND GOOD CRIMINAL EXECUTION LAW, WHICH IMPOSES PRISONERS TO WORK AND STUDY.
KPC - Given the recent massacres inside prisons, can we say that the Brazilian prison system is insolvent?
JACIRA - We can safely say that the Brazilian penitentiary system has not served its purpose for a long time. On the contrary, it has contributed to worsen the ethical and civilizing condition of prisoners.
KPC - Can the reforms required by the federal government contribute to the humanization of the system?
JACIRA - Serious social problems always hatch, often through catastrophes. In this context, rapid solutions such as packages of measures, legislative changes and other proposals that attract attention with illusory possibilities are not lacking. The penitentiary system can be improved by complying with the old and good Criminal Execution Law, which imposes prisoners work and study. It would be enough for our rulers to practice it. We can see what was said in "The Book of Spirits," Item 796: In the current state of society is not the severity of criminal laws necessary? - "A depraved society needs stronger laws. Unfortunately, those laws are more devoted to punishing evil when it was committed than to nullifying the source of that evil. Only education can reform men who, then, will no longer need such rigorous laws."
KPC - In your book "Crime - Educate or Punish?", You suggest improvements in the process of rehabilitation of the convicted as well as serving sentence. What would such prison rehabilitation be like under the "brutal empire" of criminal gangs?
JACIRA - The bands dominate the environments in which the State is not present. The State should not be submitted to the rule of crime gangs. A well- directed prison leaves no room for criminal gangs to dominate. In the book "Crime - Educate or Punish?", We say that some criminals cannot participate in these rehabilitation programs, because their animal behavior would jeopardize the recovery of those who can be rehabilitated. Those, of course, should receive special treatment; however, the immense majority of the prison population does not have this profile, being able and should work and study.
KPC - In your opinion, what would be the ideal model of prison that would help humanize our convicts?
JACIRA - As we have already said, dangerous prisoners must be treated separately, thus preventing the prison from being disturbed and preventing the institution from fulfilling its function. The penalty does not exist only to punish the offender, but also to reintegrate it, since there is no death penalty, or life imprisonment, it will return to social life, and must be improved. The penitentiary system is responsible for re-educating those who were wrong, offering them an opportunity. The best tools we have for this are work and study, but the prison can offer much more: a professional title; Art in its broadest sense; Sports; allowing the person to receive, effectively, the tools to develop their good potential. We cannot forget that most of the offenders are marginalized people, who did not receive adequate training, having been molded in the experience of crime. Our experience as a prison inspector revealed that when a social rehabilitation work is carried out during a period of eight years, except for those extreme cases mentioned above, the human being always responds positively when opportunity, placing trust and respect in his person.
The Criminal Enforcement Act provides for a commitment to work for the prisoner, but the State does not provide the necessary means. Thus, if the State, which is responsible for the custody of the prisoners, does not care to make them better persons, placing them in extremely precarious conditions, as if they were animals, society can expect no reaction other than that of angry animals. We have seen countless testimonies from committees that visit prisons, which testify to the inhuman conditions that exist: people who sleep near landfills, who eat poor food, who’ve had to bathe with cold water in winter, only if they can bathe at all, etc. And yet, the penalty prescribed by law is deprivation of liberty and not anything else. Would the citizens who read us accept another penalty beyond that established by law in the event that he was convicted? To conclude, I recommend again "The Book of Spirits". Just two more questions: 761 - The law of conservation gives man the right to preserve his own life. Isn’t he making use of this right when he removes a dangerous member from society? - "There are other means of defending himself from danger outside of killing the aggressor. On the other hand, it is necessary to open the door of repentance to the criminal and not to close it." And item 813 - There are people who fall into deprivation and misery by their own fault. Can society be responsible for this? Yes, as we have said, it is often the prime cause of such situations. Besides, should not society watch over the moral education of its members? It is often bad manners that have falsified the judgment of these people rather
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The complete edition, dated February 2017, of the Kardec Punto Com Gazette can be accessed on the magazine's website, through the link: https://goo.gl/uVmFeO