O Presídio Central de Porto Alegre pelo olhar de fora

Abstract

The present dissertation is about Presídio Central de Porto Alegre through the outside perspective of the visitors who stand in line in order to visit their friends and relatives, going from a historical perspective of the choice of prison in order to punish problematic behaviors, and the presentation of different prison archtectural arrangements to a highlight in international recommendations on the handling of prisoners according to human rights. The gap between those international recommendations and the Brazilian penal execution, especially in Rio Grande do Sul, arouses certain repercussions on the present situation of Presídio Central de Porto Alegre, a prison that has motivated the representation against Brazil at OAS due to human rights violations. The text unfolds certain myths on Presídio Central de Porto Alegre, and the author reaches for an outside non institutional/institutionalized perspective coming from its visitors on the daily life in that institution.