Abstract
The main objective of this work is to shed light on the conditions of confinement that characterize the prisons in Rio de Janeiro, as described in the inspection reports prepared by the state Public Defender, within the scope of the prison system monitoring program. The empirical material is analyzed from reflections on the role of law, its codes and institutions for the emergence, expansion and current functioning of the prison system. Since the analyzed reports suggest an approximation between the inspected prisons and the Nazi concentration camps, we try to elaborate some of the conditions, implications, and possibilities of such an association, advancing the hypothesis that, in the penitentiary system of Rio de Janeiro, prison and camp are figurations that establish a relationship of “becoming,” as defined by Deleuze and Guattari.
Keywords:
Prison; Camp; Torture; Confinement conditions; Rio de Janeiro