The World - News from May 19, 1985

To dramatize overcrowding in cells, inmates of a jail in Sao Paulo, Brazil, hanged one prisoner chosen by lot each week for three months, a human rights groups said. The Roman Catholic Human Rights Commission of Belo Horizonte, 300 miles north of Sao Paulo, said 12 prisoners were hanged by fellow inmates, including some who were beaten before being put to death. Prison director Antonia Alves said in an interview that the “stronger prisoners force the weaker ones to draw lots to determine who will be hanged.”