1. Prisoners are given time during the day to sunbathe in a courtyard at Presidio Floramar, an adult prison located in Divinopolis, Brazil. They are required to sit during this period until the head count is completed. Meanwhile, some chant, sing to themselves, or talk with the guards, but are on the whole much quieter than the inmates at the adolescent jail next door.

2. Though Floramar is considered to be one of the more well-managed prisons in the region, it suffers from the characteristic overcrowding that affects most prisons throughout the country. At approximately 500 inmates, the prison is already over twice its formal capacity of 250 inmates. Even so, grievances are hardly addressed. Fire riots broke out at Floramar due to overcrowding just weeks after this photo was taken, eventually put down by brute police force.

3. The Brazilian justice system is plagued by a number of serious problems, most notably, a lack of investigators and endless bureaucratic red tape. A single case could take up to 10 years to process. Here, an employee files away paperwork for a case at Forum, a civil and criminal courthouse in Divinopolis, Brazil.

4. Under such circumstances, many temporary detention centers have been converted into full time prisons for both accused and convicted criminals. This alberque, living quarters originally meant for accused individuals imprisoned for a maximum of 30 days, is located just outside of Divinopolis. Like Floramar, it is also twice over capacity, at 50 inmates in a 25-person facility.

5. One inmate we spoke with had been detained for two years and three months. Though he suffered from severe medical conditions, including a tumor, he was still awaiting trial. Most inmates spend their free time writing letters to friends and family.

6. IBJ Fellow Dr. Saliba is hoping to inform these prisoners of their right to habeas corpus, which would protect them from illegal detainment. Through the distribution of a short film, he can make a difference by making it easier for people to both learn about their right to habeas corpus and for communities to exercise this right more often. As such, the film is directed toward a lay audience with no experience in law or legal training. Dr. Saliba is also producing a second film for legal aid workers on the Inter-American Court of Human Rights – a resource they could appeal to when all else fails.

7. Faiçal narrates Dr. Saliba’s film on habeas corpus. As the General Director of Universidade de Itauna, a law school in a nearby city, he has been assisting Saliba as he approaches completion of his project with International Bridges to Justice.

8. The road ahead is still long. Weak institutions and bureaucratic inefficiency are only two of a host of obstacles that Brazil faces. Most prosecutors we spoke with in Brazil agree the legacy of the military regime is a major cause for the gaps they face in the fair application of Brazil’s legal code. The stigmatization of Brazilian human rights commissions, historically related to criminals and those on the margins of society, means that society as a whole is less willing to embrace human rights reform and debate. Above: Two security agents accompany an inmate down the halls of Forum, the civil and criminal courthouse in Divinopolis.

9. Continued racial profiling and troubled state-society relations can also make people reluctant to learn about their legal rights. In this photo an inmate consults with his lawyer beside Floramar’s open courtyard, defying the traditional stereotypes of social class and race. To this day, many Brazilians question the authority of the police, largely as a legacy of the decades of military dictatorship.

10. Nonetheless, progress is being made, albeit very slowly. A new form of detention is now being implemented in Brazil and worldwide — one that focuses on the prisoner as a human being with dignity and potential rather than as a mere prisoner. In many ways that addresses the plight of the Brazilian legal system, especially with regard to its historical legacy and social stigmatization. The system, known as APAC (Associação de Proteção e Assistência aos Condenados), boasts success on all accounts, from reeducation rates to financial sustainability standards. Above: an inmate looks out the window from an APAC office, where all of the administrative work is carried out by inmates.

11. Imprisonment does not dampen the youthful spirits of inmates, as one young man reaches out spontaneously to pose for the camera.