International Journal on Criminology Volume 3, Number 2, Fall 2015 | Page 61

International Journal on Criminology
While the rules are usually in written form in US Prison Gangs, they are
transmitted by oral tradition in South Africa. Despite the antiquity of these organizations,
their original values seem to have remained intact. Each one has its disciplinary code,
provisions for various punishments, symbols, hierarchical organization and specific
modes of promotion. 169 Finally, the historical interface between the various gangs
also seems to have persisted. Among these rules, there is one that demands use of the
Number's prison language, called Sabela. The “Mambozas” 170 decide when to teach
Sabela to a new prospect, and “it is a long and painful process.” 171 “Your 'blackboard'
[teacher] will speak Sabela day and night. During your first two months in the gang,
you will receive no visits, neither read nor write letters nor read books. You must focus
on the gang, and if you are too slow to learn, you are punished severely. If you cannot
seem to remember something that you were taught, you are stripped and placed under
cold water in the shower until your memory comes back.” 172
The PCC in Brazil has a code. 173 It was discovered when copies were found
on two members arrested during the events of 2006. It consists of seventeen sections
specifying the organization of the group and its activities. It reveals the relationship
between the gang and the Commando Vermelho in Rio. The code, which calls for a
“war without truce and without borders until final victory,” provides for the “death
penalty” for any breach of the rules as laid down; it ends with a political affirmation,
“Freedom, Justice and Peace.”
E - Violence and Intimidation
gangs extort, steal, use and sell drugs. There are always ten of them to
attack one inmate. They use terror to persuade others to give them their
“These
property, their money, everything they own; they set fire to the cells of those
who resist them and barricade their own to protect their “goods.” They make weapons
and beat other inmates. Every week, three in five detainees request protection—at least
as many again are soundly beaten or stabbed. The guards are afraid to pass through the
corridors housing these violent prisoners. Do not let those you speak to underestimate
the phenomenon of prison gangs and their criminal activities.” 174 A prisoner's letter to
the Secretary of Prisons in New Mexico provides an example of the influence prison
gangs have on prison life.
This same violence is corroborated by a member of the Texas Mexican Mafia, 175
sentenced to sixty years at the age of 17: “When the Gang recruited me in 1990, the
169
Haysom, Towards an Understanding of Prison Gangs.
170
The “forties,” a sort of council of elders, not criminally active in prisons.
171
Steinberg, Nongoloza's Children, 24.
172
Steinberg, Nongoloza's Children, 24.
173
Estatudo do PCC (in Portuguese): http://www1.folha.uol.com.br/folha/cotidiano/ult95u22521.shtml
174
News & Opinion. “Making Prisons Safe.” Albuquerque Weekly Alibi, June 14, 1999.
175
Also known as the Mexikanemi, meaning “long live the people of Mexico.” The Texas branch of the
Eme, enjoying a certain autonomy and a separate organization, in particular awards ranks.
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