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Brazil is facing more pressure to take concerted action as violence and overcrowding grips many of the country's prisons. An international outcry has been fuelled by a horrific video which has surfaced this week, showing the brutal decapitation of three prisoners in Maranhao state. The video was posted online by a number of newspapers and shows the gruesome scenes taking place during a riot. The United Nation's Office of the High Commission for Human Rights has urged the Brazilian government to investigate those killings at the Pedrinhas Penitentiary Complex. It comes after a report in December found that female visitors were being raped by inmates of rival gangs. Brazil's prisons have been plagued by gang culture which has made riots worse leading to many deaths, some say overcrowding has been fuelled by a justice system that hands out longer sentences for softer crimes such as theft. Maranhao state representative Domingos Dutra said that there is currently no real system in effect at Pedrinhas that is preparing inmates to eventually rejoin the outside world. According to Brazil's National Department of Penitentiaries, known by its Portuguese acronym of DEPEN, between 2009 and 2012 the number of individuals incarcerated rose by 60 percent. Report by Ashley Fudge.

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