Bloody police raid in Brazil leaves at least 25 dead

May 7, 2021

By The World staff

Several police officers are shown wearing dark colored fatigues and climbing out of a black armored vehicle carrying weapons. — Police get out of an armored vehicle during an operation against alleged drug traffickers in the Jacarezinho favela of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, May 6, 2021.
Silvia Izquierdo/AP

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Police in a Rio de Janeiro slum engaged in an hourslong gunbattle Thursday targeting drug traffickers and leading to the death of at least 25 people, including one officer. The raid in the Rio de Janeiro Jacarezinho favela in the north of the city, which police authorities say was the result of a “long and detailed” investigation, targeted the Comando Vermelho, or Red Command, criminal organization.

Human rights activists accused the police of using excessive force, and called the raid one of the deadliest in Rio de Janeiro’s history. Critics of the raid are also asking why the raid occured in the first place after a Supreme Court ban on law enforcement raids in the city during the pandemic.

Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch are pushing for an investigation into the operation and the possible occurrence of summary executions. “Even if the victims were suspected of criminal association, which has not been proven, summary executions of this kind are entirely unjustifiable,” said Jurema Werneck, Amnesty’s executive director in Brazil.

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