By Camila Barros Moraes and Shyrlei Rosendo, researchers at Redes da Maré's Right to Public Security and Access to Justice Axis
“It was 6:45 in the morning, I was going to work, I passed by and when I saw it, the police were right in the corner of the wall. There was a motorcycle in the middle of the street. One of them grabbed me, started pointing at the dead man and asked if that was a good day for me. I said no. They threw me in the corner, looked at my bag and said: 'We're coming here to kill them! We come here to kill them!’. The guy was dead in the middle of the street....”
This report illustrates the daily reality experienced by nearly 140,000 residents of Maré. The guarantee of the right to public security for the residents of slums is still far from being implemented in the Brazilian State. The idea of a democratic society in which individual rights are guaranteed for all citizens is, without a doubt, something to be achieved in these spaces. Although security is a fundamental right, the feeling of insecurity is constant among the residents of the 16 favelas that make up Maré, because of the dispute between the armed groups that operate in the territory or as a result of frequent police operations.
Police operations in Maré have used force as the main and practically the only instrument of intervention in the favelas. These interventions are characterized by disqualification, inconsequence and illegality of the action, which negatively impact the lives of residents and do not guarantee the right to public security, on the contrary, appear as the main instrument of violation of rights, especially the right to life of young black people.
According to the monitoring of armed violence carried out by the Right to Public Security and Access to Justice Axis of Redes da Maré, from 2016 to 2019 there were 129 police operations in Maré and, as a result, 92 people were injured by firearms, 90 people were murdered, schools were without classes for 97 days, and health units had their activities interrupted for 101 days.
In June 2016, a Public Civil Action with a focus on Maré (‘ACP da Maré’) was initiated in the Court of Justice of Rio de Janeiro, with the objective of guaranteeing the rights of residents in police operations. Almost one year later, in June 2017, the Judiciary granted an injunction that determines that public security agents adopt a series of measures for police operations to take place in Maré, including: 1) Prohibition of Police Operations to comply with court orders at night; 2) Installation of video cameras and GPS in vehicles; 3) Installation of audio equipment in vehicles; 4) Availability of ambulances on Police Operations days; 4) Elaboration of a Violence Reduction Plan during police operations days.
The measures, although sanctioned, were never strictly followed by the State, but they constituted an important tool to give visibility to violations and mobilize people around the demands of a security policy based on the defense of life and guarantee of the rights of the citizens of Maré. The result cannot be celebrated in its fullness, but it can be seen as an advance in guaranteeing the rights of Maré’s residents.
This is because between 2017 and 2018, as presented in the ‘3rd Bulletin The Right to Public Security in Maré’, prepared by Redes da Maré, there was a reduction in the number of police operations, which resulted in fewer days without classes, without health posts, of gun fights, of dead and wounded persons. When we compare, for example, the years 2017 and 2018, we see that there was a reduction in police operations that reached 61%. The number of police operations dropped from 41 in 2017 to 16 in 2018. And clashes between armed groups decreased by 43%, days without classes by 71% and days without health posts by 76%.
‘ACP da Maré’ was the first collective lawsuit that dealt with the right to Public Security in favelas. Recognizing the importance of involving the judiciary in this debate, the Allegation of Non-Compliance with a Fundamental Precept 635 (‘ADPF das Favelas’) was filed in the Federal Supreme Court at the end of 2019. Like the ‘ACP da Maré’, the ‘ADPF das Favelas’ is a legal instrument, with the objective of preventing the state power from practicing conducts that violate the Constitution, attacking the rights of the population that lives in favelas and popular spaces, in moments of police operations in the state of Rio de Janeiro. It was triggered when the impacts of armed violence rose again due to the political option of the government of the state of Rio de Janeiro to establish a public security policy focused on strengthening the military apparatus, which brings the increase of the number of police operations in favelas with the aggravation of violations of law in these spaces.
By comparing the years 2018 and 2019, we were able to measure the impacts of this policy, since, according to the ‘4th Bulletin The Right to Public Security in Maré’, the number of police operations more than doubled, going from 16 to 39. The impacts of these operations have increased more than 100% between these years, the number of injuries caused by firearms rose from 13 to 30, the days without classes and without activities in the health units increased from 10 to 24 and from 11 to 25 days, respectively. The number of deaths as a result of the operations increased by 79%, from 19 in 2018 to 34 in 2019. It should be noted that all those killed in police operations in 2019 were identified as black or brown.
From the ADPF, on June 5th, Minister Edson Fachin, of the Federal Supreme Court, in an injunction, ordered the suspension of police operations in favelas in Rio de Janeiro during the pandemic period, except in special cases. According to the minister, in these cases, care should be taken not to put the population at even greater risk, just as the provision of public health services and the performance of humanitarian aid activities carried out by residents and organizations that work in these territories.
The numbers from Redes da Maré's monitoring of armed violence showed a significant impact after the minister's decision. When comparing the months of June and July of 2019 and 2020, we notice that in June 2020, after this decision, the number of police operations dropped 75%, which resulted in a decrease from 5 deaths, in June 2019, to none, in June 2020. In July 2020, the impact was even greater. In 2019, there were 5 police operations that month, which resulted in 6 deaths. In 2020, there were no police operations or deaths in that period. Based on the comparison between the same period of the two years, we estimate that the measures taken by the ADPF during the pandemic period saved at least 11 lives of residents of Maré.
This Monday, August 17, the Supreme Court made a decision that could have an impact on the way in which the police operate in the favelas. The ministers unanimously decided to comply with most of the measures defended by the ‘ACP da Maré’, including the ban on the use of helicopters as a shooting platform - it is worth remembering that, in 2019, police operations using the ‘flying tanks’ concentrated more than 60% of deaths due to the intervention of State agents in Maré. It was also determined the restriction of operations in the vicinity of schools and health units and that these facilities be used as an operational base by the police forces.
Finally, the decision reinforces the importance of preserving the crime scene to carry out the investigation and that the removal of bodies under the justification of “victim assistance” is avoided. This point is important because, as shown in the ‘4th Bulletin The Right to Public Security’, of the 34 deaths in police operations in 2019, 25 had the crime scene dismantled under the police officers' allegation of "victim assistance". This speech was often confronted by the speech of residents, family members, and health professionals, who allege that the person had already been removed dead on the spot or had already arrived dead in hospital units - this happened in most cases registered last year.
Ensuring the forensics of homicide cases that occur during police operations and their proper documentation guarantees the process of investigation of these crimes and access to truth, memory and justice, historically claimed by mothers and family members who do not find State responses to crimes committed against their loved ones.
Given the data and the reality we experience in Maré, it is possible to highlight the importance of mechanisms, such as this week's achievement, which expand forms of access to justice, democratic spaces and social participation, such as the ‘ACP da Maré’ and the ‘ADPF das Favelas’, both efficient instruments for reducing police violence in favela territories. Expanding the debate on security policy is essential to control the escalation of armed violence that has decimated generations in the favelas and suburbs.
Build and strengthen these mechanisms, as well as prioritize the prevention and investigation of crimes against life; act in the control of firearms, reducing their circulation throughout the national territory; create social violence prevention programs; thinking about prison system and adopting drug policies that protect those affected by systemic violence are essential measures to think of a public security model that prioritizes the lives of everyone, regardless of their skin color or where they live. Still, it is essential to collectively build a plan to reduce lethal violence during police action in the favelas, which strengthens processes of social control over the security policy and transparency of information. Interrupting the tragedy of crimes against life is a necessary condition to build a democratic society with equity.
