Death toll rises to 29 in controversial police operation in Rio de Janeiro favela
RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The death toll in the police operation that took place on Thursday in a favela in Rio de Janeiro rose from 28 to 29, according to the police, whose violent action has been condemned by international organizations.
The Civil Police confirmed in a brief note that 28 alleged “criminals” and an inspector “were killed in the operation”, deployed in the Jacarezinho favela, in the northern zone of the capital of Rio de Janeiro, and which lasted nine hours.
On Friday night, the police had already raised the number of dead from 25 to 28 without further details.
According to several human rights associations, the action was aimed at combating the recruitment of minors by a gang of traffickers but ended up becoming the “biggest police massacre” in the history of Rio de Janeiro.
The Rio Police has so far only disclosed the identity of only three of the alleged 28 criminals, when more than 48 hours have already passed since the beginning of the operation, according to portal G1.
The Brazilian Attorney General, Augusto Aras, asked the day before the governor of Rio, Claudio Castro, and other authorities of the region to “clarify the circumstances” of the action to view the multiple denunciations of abuses by the agents.
Judge Luiz Edson Fachin of the Brazilian Supreme Court even affirmed having seen signs of “arbitrary executions” in videos he analyzed.
According to reports from neighbors and videos published on social networks, during the operation, the agents invaded homes without judicial authorization, shot surrendered people, and confiscated witnesses’ cell phones.
The Civil Police denied all accusations of abuse and affirmed that they acted in a planned manner and under the prosecutor’s office’s supervision.
Governor Castro said that the action resulted from a “long and detailed intelligence work” that lasted for “ten months”.
Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch (HRW), among other organizations, have condemned this brutal operation, which has outraged the residents of the Jacarezinho favela, who have described it as a “massacre” and “genocide” against the black population.
The United Nations (UN) Office for Human Rights also expressed its concern and denounced possible attempts by the security forces to prevent an independent investigation of what happened.
According to official data, only in the first quarter of this year, 453 people have died at the hands of uniformed officers in Rio.
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