With over 830,000 inmates, Brazil has the third-largest prison population in the world, behind only the US and China. According to data from the National Secretariat for Penal Policy, there are almost 166,000 more prisoners than there are places currently available in the country's jails. In some penitentiaries, such as in the state of Rio de Janeiro, prison overcrowding can reach 190 percent. Brazilian prisons are also regularly the scene of rebellions and massacres.
In the state of Maranhão, the poorest in the country, the Pedrinhas Complex agreed to let FRANCE 24's cameras in. In the space of just a few years, this penitentiary centre, infamous for seeing one of the worst massacres in Brazil's history 10 years ago, has been transformed into a much more exemplary prison. So how has this complex become a model of rehabilitation? FRANCE 24's Fanny Lothaire, Louise Raulais, Jan Onoszko, Alan Lima and José Teixeira report.
