By ARNS COMMITTEE*
Public Note on the Jacarezinho Massacre
The Arns Commission goes public to express its most vehement repudiation of the operation launched by the Civil Police of Rio de Janeiro this morning, in the Jacarezinho community, in the north of the city. This is the deadliest police attack in the state since 1989, with at least 25 confirmed dead and shootings that continued relentlessly throughout the day.
It is unacceptable that this slaughter takes place in the midst of the pandemic that has plagued the country for over a year, with around 415 deaths. The Federal Supreme Court, recognizing the increased risk of violence in the period, accepted ADPF 635, proposed by the Brazilian Socialist Party with the support of civil society organizations. Thus, police operations in the hills and favelas of Rio are suspended for as long as the pandemic lasts, except in cases of high exceptionality, subject to prior information and with the monitoring of the State Public Ministry.
What is being seen in Rio – a disastrous action against hundreds of people, authorized by the current governor, Claudio Castro, under the diffuse pretext of investigating the enticement of children and young people by drug trafficking – clearly configures a situation of State violence, inspired by sadistic instincts and executed with great brutality. Bloodied bodies are in the streets and alleys of Jacarezinho, houses have been invaded, cell phones confiscated, residents live hours of despair.
It is necessary to react to the killing! May the governor of Rio, sworn in just five days ago, assume responsibility for this ill-fated operation. That the competent authorities guarantee the preservation of the places where the deaths took place. That the IML's expertise work be carried out within the required technical criteria, under the watchful eye of society as a whole. And that the decision of the STF, suspending these operations, be fully respected.
*Arns Commission is a group of 20 personalities from the political world, jurists, academics, intellectuals, journalists and social activists from different generations, whose common denominator has been the permanent defense of human rights. The group acts on a voluntary, cross-party basis, alongside thousands of human rights defenders across the country.
