Behind Bars: Urso Branco, Brazil | World’s Toughest Prisons

Urso Branco pre-trial prison in Brazil is one of the worst jails in the world. Every year since 2002, riots have broken out due to gangs competing for control over the drug business even behind bars. Rival gang members are eliminated at any chance they get, resulting in more than 100 deaths in the past 20 years.

Despite the government’s efforts to tighten security, the situation in Urso Branco remains a disaster. Cells are overcrowded, and the sanitary conditions are catastrophic. Each guard is heavily armed with an anti-riot rifle, given they face constant risk of attack.

This is the case for Naum, a twenty-eight-year-old who has been arrested and brought to Urso Branco. He waits, sharing the cell with 19 other inmates who committed crimes like robbery, murder, rape, and drug trafficking. Cramped conditions surround Naum as he’s at the bottom of the pecking order, intimidated by his cellmates. Unfortunately, things can spiral out of control at any moment in this prison.

This prison’s story is just beginning, and documentary filmmakers captured the horrific conditions in the award-winning film “Urso Branco: Brasil’s House of Horrors.” The film production team offers insight into the brutality within Urso Branco, making it a must-watch for anyone wanting to understand the intolerable conditions some prisoners have to suffer through.

I highly encourage you to watch “Urso Branco: Brasil’s House of Horrors” documentary and educate yourself on the matter.