Dozens of prisoners have died in a shocking series of brutal massacres in Brazil’s prisons in recent weeks. Prison chaplains argue that only a radical reform of the system can break the cycle of violence

Brazil’s Alcaçuz prison in the north-eastern state of Rio Grande do Norte has had the top spot in the nation’s TV news bulletins in the past few weeks. Prisoners were seen on the roof of the building with banners of the notorious First Capital Command (PCC) criminal network and the local crime syndicate, and the initials of another gang, the Family of the North, were daubed on the walls.

Since 2015, many of the cells in Alcaçuz have had no bars, and the prisoners have a free run of the prison; 26 prisoners were murdered there in rioting on 14 January. Another prisoner was reported killed on 18 January as police entered the prison to transfer 220 inmates associated with the crime syndicate, and in related violence 15 buses and a government car were burned in the streets of the state capital, Natal.

The authorities later brought 16 shipping containers into the prison to create a barrier between the factions, and by 27 January members of a special prison task force were photographed posing on the same roof with their banner and the Brazilian flag.