In Rio It’s War. And a Video Shows Police Executing Two Men on the Ground

A police officer walks up to a man lying on the ground, reaches down, and picks up what appears to be an assault rifle beside the man. As the man looks up, the officer shoots him.

The camera pans to follow another police officer, approaching a second man on the ground. He shoots him, and keeps walking.

The executions occurred just outside the wall of the Daniel Piza Municipal School in Rio de Janeiro on March 30.

Maria Eduarda Alves da Conceição, a 13-year-old student who was in gym class, was also killed. Her uncle told reporters she was shot three times when police opened fire on the two suspects from across the Acari River, which runs in front of the school.

Rio’s military police commander said the video revealed “blatant illegal actions.” But the commander’s own spokesperson was less clear.

“Police officers need to be able to flip a switch in their minds, at times being defenders of rights and at times being warriors, because there is a real war,” he said.

Rio police have a dangerous job. Forty-six military police officers have been killed this year, on and off duty. But execution of suspects and excessive use of force resulting in deaths of bystanders won’t help.

These practices violate the most basic right of all – the right to life – and represent the opposite of what police should stand for. These abuses also feed the cycle of violence.

What criminal in Rio, having seen the March 30 video, would surrender peacefully when cornered? Fear of being executed can drive suspects to shoot at police. Several police officers expressed this concern during interviews I conducted last year.

Others told me that after fellow officers executed people, they feared communities would turn their backs and stop reporting crimes or warning officers of dangers, making police even more vulnerable.

Since I conducted those interviews, the situation has worsened. Rio police killed 920 people in 2016. Killings rose 78 percent in January and February of 2017.

The only appropriate response is a thorough, impartial investigation into every police killing, not just those caught on tape, and prosecution of every police officer who commits a crime. That’s what will best protect Rio’s communities and its police force.

César Muñoz is a Human Rights Watch Senior Researcher in Brazil

Human Rights Watch

Tags:

You May Also Like

Presidential Candidate Jair Bolsonaro

Brazil May Elect a Fascist President. We Might Soon Be a Neopentecostal Turkey

It now looks increasingly like Brazil will elect a fascist president in November. I ...

Anti-corruption protest - Photo: Wesley Almeida/cancaonova.com

Brazil Gasps at Festival of Christmas Presidential Pardons for the Corrupted

Brazilian anti-corruption prosecutors and organizations raised their voice this weekend against President Michel Temer’s ...

Justice statue in front of the Supreme Court building in Brasília - Photo: SCO/STF

Defiant, Brazil’s President Charged with Corruption Vows Not to Resign

Brazil’s President Michel Temer says nothing will destroy him, as he faces suspension and ...

São Martinho plant, which produces sugar and ethanol in Pradópolis, São Paulo state - Wikipedia

Grading Coke and Pepsi on Their Efforts to Curb Land Grab in Brazil’s Sugar Industry

Coca-Cola and PepsiCo’s efforts to stop illegal land seizures by sugar suppliers in Brazil ...

Despite Strict Laws, Child Labor in Brazil Is Not Going Away

Children and adolescents are frequently found working in markets and slaughterhouses in municipalities of ...

End of Chaos. After 127 Murders, Brazil Police Call Off Week-long Strike

After a week of total chaos that left more than 120 people dead, the ...

A picture from the Labor Ministry shows slave work - Sergio Carvalho/MTE

For Many Brazilians the Dream of Prosperity in the Amazon Ends Up in Slavery

The dictionary definition of a settler, “one who emigrates to populate and/or exploit a ...

Cattle raised in the Brazilian Amazon

In Brazil, Land Speculators Know Well They Are Above the Law

On the Amazon frontier, where many people operate outside the law, you often hear ...

Ana Luiza Junqueira Vilela Viacava jailed for land grabbing in the Amazon - Federal Police/Publicity

Vilela: A Brazilian Family Synonymous with Terror in the Amazon

Every month, a group of wealthy women representing some of Brazil’s most exclusive and ...