The toll of the police operation against drug trafficking in a favela in Rio de Janeiro has risen to 28

The government of Rio de Janeiro reported on Friday that the operation against drug trafficking in the Jacarezinho favela has finally been settled with 28 dead, including an agent, while denouncing the actions of the agents.

So, three more dead were added to the raid, who died in hospital, as specified by the municipal government, who indicated that 26 of the 27 deceased people were registered in the criminal record, G1 collects.

A day after the deadliest police operation in Rio de Janeiro, some bodies are still expected to be transferred to the Medical Legal Institute (IML) for examination. Meanwhile, the Brazilian Bar’s Human Rights Commission has released a list of 16 identified people.

For its part, The civilian police have not revealed the identity of the deceased and some relatives of the victims are trying to free the bodies that have already passed through the IML.

After the operation, which was carried out in the favela, located north of the city, the Attorney General’s Office (PGR) gave authorities five days to present information on the proceedings.

The request was sent to the state governor, Claudio Castro, the attorney general of justice, Luciano Mattos, the civil and military police, the court of justice and the office of the ombudsman.

About the raid, Castro said the police received a “backlash” from the targets of the operation, “the most backlash in recent times.”, with “weapons of war ready to repel state action and avoid arrests at all costs”, reports UOL.

In this sense, the mayor of Rio de Janeiro, Eduardo Paes, criticized the security policy of the state government. “On the one hand, the population chooses a subject which says that shooting in the head is completely normal. On the other hand, there are decisions of the highest jurisdiction in the country which prohibit the state from exercising a monopoly of force in certain areas of the city. These are two absolutely radical visions “, he said.

On the other hand, the secretary of the civil police of Rio de Janeiro, Allan Turnowski, declared this Friday, in a speech at the funeral of the deceased policeman, André Frias, that “anyone who knows a little about the operations knows that the trafficker, the criminal, when you enter the community, shoot to escape ”.

“Yesterday (Thursday), they fired to keep their position, to kill. They had orders to face, to stay (…). And what the civilian police showed yesterday is the maturity, the professionalism, to show society that the drug trafficker who invaded the neighbor’s house is the enemy of all of society, ”he added. he adds.

“ARBITRARY EXECUTIONS”

For his part, the judge of the Supreme Court of Brazil, Edson Fachin, valued this Friday the police operation by noting that there are indications that there could have been “arbitrary executions”.

Fachin addressed a letter to the Attorney General, Augusto Aras, warning of possible irregularities in the functioning of the civil police of Rio de Janeiro, which had limited this type of action, except in exceptional cases, due to the crisis of the pandemic , such as and when orders from the Supreme.

“The facts denounced seem serious and, in one of the videos, there are indications of facts which, in theory, could constitute an arbitrary execution”, Fachin pointed out in his writing to Aras.

Fachin’s reaction coincides with that of some other Brazilian authorities, such as the Rio de Janeiro prosecutor’s office and the Brazilian Congressional Human Rights Commission, who have announced an investigation into what they have called a “massacre.” .

Human rights organizations echoed witnesses who witnessed some of the deaths, who reported that officers shot them after they had already surrendered. The authorities also questioned whether the agents had transported the bodies, thus preventing the expertise of the magistrates.

This Friday, there were a few demonstrations in various neighborhoods of Rio de Janeiro to protest against police violence, including that which takes place, they denounce, without discrimination against the inhabitants of the favelas.

The Rio de Janeiro civil police have deployed the special operation in the Jacarezinho favela against a criminal group accused, among other things, of recruiting minors to commit thefts, kidnappings and murders. Its breakthrough in the favela sparked a shootout that left 28 people dead. Police maintained that all protocols were followed during the operation and called the deceased “bandits”, “criminals” and “murderers”.

Jacarezinho is considered the base of Comando Vermelho, the most active drug trafficking group in Rio de Janeiro. The favela is full of alleys and surrounded by barricades set up by criminal groups, making it difficult for armored vehicles to access, among other things.

(With information from Europa Press)

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