Some 28 cities in the state of Rio Grande do Norte, in northeastern Brazil, a series of attacks orchestrated by a criminal group, with fires and shots fired at public offices, stores and vehicles, authorities reported.

The state government assumes that the riots were planned from prisons as a protest against living conditions and the tightening of control measures in these institutions, the agency said. AFP.

The attacks began early Tuesday morning in some 19 cities, including the capital Natal, and despite the strengthening of security, they expanded to a total of 28 as of this Wednesday, according to police sources quoted by the news site G1.

Images circulated through social networks and local media showed buses, trucks and other cars on fire, and police cars with bullet holes.

The state is steadfast and working (…) to restore normality to the people of Rio Grande do Norte”, said Governor Fátima Bezerra this Wednesday to journalists.

“All measures have already been initiated,” he added.

Some 220 National Force policemen were sent at dawn to assist local troops, a number that could be increased “up to the amount deemed necessary,” Public Security Minister Flávio Dino said on Twitter.

The federal government also announced the deployment of a federal police force to coordinate the “surveillance and custody of prisoners” in Rio Grande do Norte.

Local police have reported two deaths and two injuries since the excesses began, according to G1.

One of the deceased is José Wilson da Silva Filho, 29 years old and head of the largest criminal faction in Rio Grande do Norte, who died on Wednesday when he clashed with police officers as they tried to arrest him, police said in a statement .

“He was responsible for financing and distributing weapons for the group that carried out the attacks,” police said.

According to a police report published by G1.

Aerial view of a burning commercial warehouse in Natal, Rio Grande do Norte state, Brazil, on March 16, 2023. Photo: AFP

Allegations of torture

Violence is “a response by the so-called organized crime to the harsh and assertive measures taken by the government of Rio Grande do Norte in the control of the prison systemGovernor Bezerra said in an interview with Tuesday CNN.

Specifically, the prisoners are demanding an improvement in prison conditions, such as televisions and intimate visits, the Secretary of State for Security Francisco Canindé de Araújo told the UOL portal.

Human rights organizations point to violations of the minimum conditions to which prisoners are entitled.

The National Mechanism to Prevent and Combat Torture (MNPCT), an autonomous body that oversees prisons, denounced “inhumane and degrading” detention conditions in prisons in Rio Grande do Norte.

In particular, he noted cases of torture and spoiled foodaccording to G1.

Bezerra said Wednesday afternoon that the local government will conduct an “in-depth investigation” into these allegations.

Some drug trafficking groups are commanded by their leaders overcrowded prisons in Brazil.

Riots and clashes between members of rival factions have killed dozens in recent years.

Among the deadliest are the 2017 riots in prisons in the states of Amazonas, Roraima and Rio Grande do Norte, in the northern and northeastern regions of the country, which killed more than 100 inmates in a period of one month .

At least in 2019 55 prisoners were murdered in various prisons during two days of fighting in Amazonas.