A civil police operation in the Jacarezinho favela, in the north of Rio de Janeiro, has become the second largest massacre in the history of the city.
Until the afternoon of this Thursday, 25 dead people were registered, including a policeman who was shot in the head, according to the authorities.
The others, whose identities have not yet been released, are considered suspects by the police.
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According to the reports of those who follow the operation at the scene, the agents entered the homes of the residents of the place to carry out searches - which can only be carried out with a court order - and located the bodies of the deceased. in armored police vehicles. In one of the images received by EL PAÍS, three agents carry a body wrapped in a white sheet, which makes any forensic work difficult. This newspaper contacted the civil police and the Rio Prosecutor's Office, in charge of investigating possible police abuses, but has not received any response so far.
The police action this Thursday shows that, even during the coronavirus pandemic, the public security policy of Governor Cláudio Castro (PSC) in the State of Rio continues to be guided by the direct confrontation with drug traffickers in the favelas and peripheral neighborhoods, ignoring a decision of the Supreme Federal Court (STF). In June of last year, the Supreme Court prohibited this type of police operations during the health crisis, except in “absolutely exceptional cases” and provided that they are duly justified before the Rio Prosecutor's Office.
A month after the Supreme Court's decision, police operations decreased by 78%, deaths in shootings were reduced by 70% and the number of wounded by 50%.
However, and despite the measure ordered by the STF, the figures increased again last November.
In 2021 alone, the Fogo Cruzado Institute has already registered 30 cases in which three or more people were shot and killed in the same in the metropolitan region of Rio.
Blood inside a house in Rio de Janeiro's Jacarezinho favela after a police operation, on May 6.Silvia Izquierdo / AP
"In total, there are 139 deaths in these circumstances," says the platform, which tracks the shootings in the state. On April 16 and 19 of this year, Judge Edson Fachin held a public hearing with relatives of victims, non-governmental organizations, experts, and representatives of police corporations to discuss strategies to reduce the lethality of police actions. "It is surreal that the police continue with this confrontational logic, which puts our lives at risk and does not respect our rights, our homes and our lives," said a Jacarezinho resident on condition of anonymity.
The operation began in the morning of this Thursday, with helicopters flying over the area and police officers advancing along the train and subway tracks that cross the favela. “There were many policemen entering all the areas of Jacarezinho. Many are hooded. We received the news that one of them was shot, and then the shooting became much more intense, ”said the same resident.
According to the
G1
portal
, the name of the agent who was shot in the head is André Farias. The same portal points out that the chaos generated by the shooting affected the circulation of the subway and injured two passengers inside a wagon. A family care clinic and two vaccination posts against covid-19 had to be closed. Residents had to lock themselves in their houses to protect themselves from the gunfire, and the streets were practically deserted.
THE COUNTRY received images of bodies lying on the ground and bloodied people.
Photographs of houses with bullet marks and bloodstained walls and floors are also circulating.
“I have about 10 reports of people telling me that the police entered their houses searching and throwing everything away.
The entire favela is taken, ”says the resident.
In an audio received by this newspaper, another neighbor in the area recounted the following scene: “We entered a house here with a piece of brain matter.
They entered a woman's house and tortured her in here, the house is all dirty with blood ”.
Another person also reported that in a house there were four dead people on the floor and that the agents did not allow anyone to enter.
Vermelho command base
The Jacarezinho favela is considered an important base of the Vermelho command.
Also according to the
G1
portal
,
the police are investigating the recruitment of children and adolescents for murders, robberies and even kidnappings on trains in the area.
Images from the operation show armed men trying to flee through the roofs of houses.
This Thursday is the second largest massacre in Rio de Janeiro, after 29 people died in the Baixada Fluminense in 2005.
On the other hand, it surpasses the massacres of Vigário Geral, which ended with the death of 21 people in 1993, and that of Vila Vintém, where a dispute over drug trafficking left 19 dead.
EL PAÍS contacted the Civil Police asking about the number of deaths, the reasons for the police operation and if the procedures established by the Supreme Court to carry out the operations were followed.
So far no response has been received.
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