At least 18 people were killed in a raid on Rio de Janeiro's largest favela complex, which triggered new accusations about excessive police brutality and sparked a discussion about how to deal with crime before state and presidential elections.
Authorities in Rio said that 16 suspected criminals, a police officer, and a woman were all slain in clashes with the police in Complexo do Alemao, a low-income neighborhood. The raid was directed at a gang that broke into neighboring neighborhoods, looted banks, and stole cars.
Videos of violent gun battles between criminals and a police helicopter hovering over the modest brick homes were spreading on social media. Even in highly populated residential neighborhoods, Rio's police have utilized helicopters to fire at targets, and video showed rounds being fired at the chopper from the favela.
Reporters from the Associated Press observed locals dragging roughly 10 dead at the scene of the raid while onlookers yelled, "We want peace!"
One woman who spoke to the AP under the condition of anonymity out of fear for retaliation from the authorities said, "It's a bloodbath inside, which police are calling an operation." She continued, "They're not allowing us help (victims)," claiming to have seen one man detained for trying to do so.
Police in Rio claimed they would have preferred to simply make arrests of suspects, but "unfortunately they chose to shoot at our policemen," according to Ronaldo Oliveira, an investigator.
Castro claimed in a different tweet that his major opponent in the elections, the socialist Marcelo Freixo, supports criminals who attack police, "such a crucial institution that makes us so proud." The governor "uses cops to make politics," said Freixo in response.
Critics have criticized the government's approach to combating organized crime and violence, which frequently involves lethal police operations. More than 20 individuals were killed in a raid in the Vila Cruzeiro favela in Rio in May.
Security will be a major concern in Brazil's October presidential elections, where President Jair Bolsonaro has advocated a tough-on-crime stance.
"Enough, governor, with this genocidal policy!" In response to the governor's tweet, Rio de Janeiro representative Talaria Petrone made a statement. Residents and police are stranded on the ground in large numbers due to this failing public security strategy. The number of Black corpses and favela dwellers cannot continue to rise daily!
The raid on Thursday, according to Robert Muggah, co-founder of the Igarapé Institute, a security-focused think tank in Rio de Janeiro, is "a manifestation of weak leadership and an institutional culture that condones excessive force."
In a text message, Muggah noted that the deaths brought on by large-scale police operations "is a grim reminder that militarized policing is not only ineffective, it is counterproductive," adding that such operations "generate extreme violence primarily affecting low-income Black populations while also corroding the trust between residents and law enforcement."
Alemao is a collection of 13 favelas in northern Rio with a population of roughly 70,000. According to a July 2020 report released by the Brazilian Institute of Social and Economical Analyses, over three-quarters of them are Black or mixed.
In an effort to decrease police killings and human rights abuses, Brazil's Supreme Court issued a number of requirements earlier this year that police must follow when conducting raids in Rio's favelas. Lethal force may only be employed after all other options have failed and when it is necessary to defend human life, according to a court judgment.
The decision was made in response to a 2021 raid on the Jacarezinho favela, which left 28 people dead. An officer died during that operation, as it did on Thursday, leading some to assume at the time that this was the reason for future mistreatment and summary killings.
The operation on Thursday started before dawn and ended around 4 p.m. local time, according to the police. According to the police statement, there were close to 400 police personnel participating, including the tactical police unit of Rio.
Residents are seen pleading for peace and waving white cloths from their windows and rooftops in a video posted by Voz da Comunidade, a local news source specializing on Rio's favelas.
According to Fabrcio Oliveira, one of the police raid planners, there may be further violence on Friday at the Complexo do Alemao.
After raids like these, "our experience has shown us that cops are targeted in every way," Oliveira added.
Amnesty International, a human rights organization, demanded on Twitter that prosecutors look into the police officers engaged in the raid on Thursday straight away.
The non-profit organization asked, "WHO WILL STOP Governor Cláudio Castro and his destructive and rights-violating public security policies in Rio de Janeiro?" "Enough with the brutality already! THE FAVELA WOULD LIKE TO LIVE!
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