Brazil's prison population up 74 pct in seven years

Brazil's prison population grew 74 percent in a seven-year period starting 2005, according to a report released Wednesday by the Brazilian Presidency Secretariat-General.

According to the report, Brazil had 296,919 inmates in 2005, and, by 2012, the figure jumped to 515,482. During the period, male prisoners increased 70 percent while female inmates surged 146 percent.

About a third of the incarcerated population were jailed in Sao Paulo, the most populous state in Brazil.

About 69 percent of the prison population were serving time in jail, and 24 percent were serving sentences in open prison system, under which inmates are allowed to leave the penitentiary during the day to work and have to return at night. The rest were serving sentences outside prisons, such as on parole or under house arrest.

According to the report, almost half of the inmates in Brazil were sentenced to less than eight years of jail term, and many did not need to be in prison, because the Brazilian penal code allows for alternative punishment for many crimes with sentences no longer than eight years.

A total of 70 percent of inmates were serving time for crimes against property or drug trafficking, while 12 percent were serving time for crimes against life, such as murder.

In terms of the incarceration rates by race, for white citizens, there were 191 inmates for every 100,000 people in 2012; while for blacks, there were 292 inmates for every 100,000 citizens.

Imprisonment of black people rose 32 percent from 2005 to 2012, while that of the white increased 26 percent in the same period. Endi