Allegations of police abuse in deadly raid in Rio de Janeiro

A raid against gang members in the largest favela complex in Rio de Janeiro, which left at least 18 dead, sparked new allegations of abuse of police violence and ignited a debate on how to handle crime on the eve of state and presidential elections. .

Rio authorities reported that 16 suspected criminals died in confrontations with police at the Complexo do Alemão, as well as a policeman and a woman. The operation targeted a gang that robbed cars and banks, and invaded nearby neighborhoods.

Videos circulating on social media showed intense gunfights between criminals, as well as a police helicopter flying low over small brick houses. Rio police have used helicopters to fire on targets, even in densely populated areas, and a video showed an aircraft firing into the favela.

At the site of the operation, reporters from Associated Press residents were seen carrying about 10 bodies, while some people shouted: “We want peace!”

“It’s a massacre in there, what the police call an operation,” a woman told Associated Press on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals from the authorities. “They don’t let us help (victims),” he added, saying he saw a woman who tried to help get arrested.

Ronaldo Oliveira, a Rio police investigator, said authorities would have preferred to simply arrest the suspects, “but unfortunately they decided to open fire on our policemen.”

Rio state governor Cláudio Castro, who ran for re-election in October, tweeted that he mourned the death of a police officer. “I will continue to fight crime with all my might. We will not take a single step back in the mission of guaranteeing peace and security for the people of our state,” Castro added.

In another tweet, Castro said that his main rival in the elections, the leftist Marcelo Freixo, defends criminals who attack the police, “such an important institution that makes us proud.” Freixo replied that the governor “uses the police to do politics.”

Many disagree with the government’s strategy to combat violence and organized crime, a plan that has regularly resulted in deadly police operations. A raid on the Vila Cruzeiro favela in Rio left more than 20 dead in May.

Brazil will also hold presidential elections in October and security will be a key issue. President Jair Bolsonaro has defended his tough approach against crime.

“ENOUGH of this genocidal policy, Governor!”, responded the federal legislator for Río Talíria Petrone to the governor’s tweet. “This failed public safety policy leaves residents and police dead en masse. It is no longer possible to keep piling up the bodies of blacks and favela residents every day!” she added.

Robert Muggah, co-founder of the Igarapé Institute, a Rio de Janeiro-based think tank that studies security, said Thursday’s raid was “a symptom of failed leadership and an institutional culture that condones the use of excessive force.” .

“Deaths resulting from large-scale police operations are a grim reminder that militarized policing is not only ineffective, but counterproductive,” Muggah added in a text message. Those raids generate “extreme violence that predominantly affects low-income black populations and also corrodes trust between residents and law enforcement,” he added.

El Alemão is a complex of 13 favelas in northern Rio, inhabited by some 70,000 people. Nearly 75% of residents are Afro-Brazilian or mestizo, according to a study conducted in July 2020 by the Brazilian Institute for Social and Economic Analysis.

This year the Federal Supreme Court established a series of conditions for police operations in Rio’s favelas in order to reduce the number of deaths and human rights violations at the hands of the police. The court ruled that deadly force could only be used in situations where all other means had been exhausted and when necessary to protect human life.

The ruling was in response to a 2021 operation in the Jacarezinho favela, where 28 people were killed. As on Thursday, a police officer was killed during that operation, leading some to speculate then that this was the cause of subsequent summary executions and abuses.

Thursday’s operation began before dawn and ended around 4 p.m., police said. Nearly 400 elements participated, including the Rio police tactical unit backed by four helicopters and 10 armored vehicles, according to the police statement.

In a video released by Voice of the Communitya community news outlet focused on Rio’s favelas, residents can be seen calling for peace and waving white scarves from their windows and rooftops.

Fabrício Oliveira, one of the coordinators of the operation, said that the authorities fear that on Friday there will be a new day of violence in Complexo do Alemão.

“Experience tells us that after operations like this, police officers are attacked in every possible way,” Oliveira said.

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