Tarrafal camp

Tarrafal camp

Entrance to Tarrafal Prison
Location	Chão Bom, Santiago, Cape Verde
Coordinates	15°15′52″N 23°44′39″W / 15.264355°N 23.744073°W / 15.264355; -23.744073
Status	Closed
Security class	Maximum
Capacity	4,000
Opened	1936
Closed	25 April 1974
Former name	Campo da Morte Lenta (Camp of the Slow Death)
Managed by	Polícia Internacional e de Defesa do Estado
Country	Colonial Cape Verde

Tarrafal (also known as Campo da Morte Lenta in Portuguese ("Camp of the Slow Death")) was a prison camp in the Portuguese colony of Cape Verde. The penal colony was established by the Portuguese dictator António de Oliveira Salazar following the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War in 1936. It housed opponents to Portugal's right-wing authoritarian regime. Due to the harsh conditions, at least 32 political prisoners died in the camp.

By 1932 Salazar had become Portugal's Prime Minister (primeiro-ministro). After consolidating his power, he declared the Estado Novo ("New State") in 1933. It was a government modelled on the Fascist State in Italy ruled by Benito Mussolini. Trade unions and political parties were banned (except for Salazar's own National Union). In response many left-wing organizations began campaigns against the right-wing regime. Arrests soon led to a rise in Portugal's prison population.

Against this back drop, the Estado Novo, under the guise of reorganization of the country's prisons, decided to build an overseas penal colony for exiling political opponents. Several locations throughout the Portuguese colonies were considered. Eventually Chão Bom (which means good earth and soil) was chosen on Santiago Island in the Cape Verde archipelago. The site was approved because it was best suited to "hygiene, surveillance, and natural resources"; all ideal properties that a prison colony should have according to Portuguese penal experts.

Ideologically Tarrafal was created for two purposes. First it would be used to remove and isolate political prisoners who disrupted mainland gaols through protests and sit ins. Second the camp would have harsh conditions in order to send a clear message to the opposition in Portugal that Salazar's regime would not tolerate any kind of political dissent. These objectives were clearly defined in the opening paragraphs of Decree-Law No. 26539 (Decreto-Lei n.º 26 539), the law that was enacted to build Tarrafal. It stated that the camp - which would be under the control of the PIDE (Portugal's Secret Police) - was only for the exiling of political and social prisoners who had disrupted other prisons and were considered a "harmful element" to other inmates.