POLICE OPERATION IN VILA CRUZEIRO BECOMES THE 2ND LARGEST MASSACRE IN THE STATE WITH 25 DEAD
Amidst discussions about the urgent need for a plan to reduce police lethality, state agents continue to set records for the number of deaths in police actions in the favelas of Rio de Janeiro. According to Fogo Cruzado Institute, in 2021 alone there were 59 massacres in the metropolitan region of the state, resulting in 246 deaths.
In the early hours 05/24, once again, residents of Vila Cruzeiro, in the North Zone, woke up to the sound of gunfire. A police operation with a strong military presence led by the Special Police Operations Battalion (BOPE), the Federal Police (PF), and the Federal Highway Police (PRF) left at least 25 dead in over 12 hours of action. A woman was shot inside her own home.
In a democratic rule of law, the police cannot execute people, even if they are suspects or caught in the act of something illegal, which is not the case in the context of 25 deaths in a single day. We must stop normalizing this logic. The action should be called by its true name: a massacre!
The indiscriminate number of executions in police actions is not an isolated incident or an exception, but it characterizes the conduct of the public security policy administered by the state government. A policy that allows public agents to enter the favela and leave bodies on the ground without any concern for due legal process.
Historically, the public security policy of confrontation has been used as the main agenda in political campaigns. In election years, conservative sectors continue to offer the death of the poor, black, and favela population in exchange for a supposed end to the complex problem of urban violence. The death policy justified by the alleged "war on drugs" only serves to further brutalize the police, who still lack the ability to use intelligence and investigation to dismantle armed groups engaging in illicit activities.
Redes da Maré stands in solidarity with the residents of Vila Cruzeiro, especially the families of the victims, and condemns any action that goes against the principles of the Democratic Rule of Law.
Redes da Maré.
Rio de Janeiro, May 25, 2022.
Photo by: Kamila Camillo, psychologist of the Education axis of Redes da Maré and photographer.
