Inside one of Brazil's troubled prisons
Inmates walk from their cells towards a recreation area in the Pedrinhas Prison Complex, the largest penitentiary in Maranhao state, in Sao Luis, Brazil.Mario Tama/Getty Images
Miltary Police patrol in the Pedrinhas Prison Complex. In 2013, nearly 60 inmates were killed within the complex, including three who were beheaded during rioting.Mario Tama/Getty Images
Inmates stand in their cell in the Pedrinhas Prison Complex, previously one of the most violent prisons in Brazil, Pedrinhas has seen efforts which appear to have quelled some of the unrest within the complex.Mario Tama/Getty Images
Inmates gather in the Pedrinhas Prison Complex, in Sao Luis, Brazil. Officials recently repaired and repopulated the cells allowing law enforcement access and decreasing violence among prisoners, according to officials.Mario Tama/Getty Images
Miltary Police patrol in the Pedrinhas Prison Complex. Brazil now has the fourth-largest prison population in the world behind the U.S., Russia and China. The population of those imprisoned had quadrupled in the past twenty years to around 550,000.Mario Tama/Getty Images
An inmate uses a mirror to view visitors in the Pedrinhas Prison Complex in Sao Luis, Brazil.Mario Tama/Getty Images
Inmates pray before a soccer match in the Pedrinhas Prison Complex.Mario Tama/Getty Images
Inmates gather in a recreation area in the Pedrinhas Prison Complex. Reforms in the prison have included a policy of custody hearings and real-time camera feeds.Mario Tama/Getty Images
An attempted tunnel escape route is cemented over in the Pedrinhas Prison Complex.Mario Tama/Getty Images
Inmates stand in their cell in the Pedrinhas Prison Complex in Sao Luis, Brazil.Mario Tama/Getty Images