Brazil should thoroughly probe a shootout between police and drug-trafficking suspects in a favela in Rio de Janiero, the deadliest police operation to date, a rights organization said on Monday
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 31st May, 2021) Brazil should thoroughly probe a shootout between police and drug-trafficking suspects in a favela in Rio de Janiero, the deadliest police operation to date, a rights organization said on Monday.
The May 6 raid in the impoverished Jacarezinho neighborhood left 28 people dead, including an officer and a 16-year-old. Two commuters in a subway train were hit by stray bullets.
"The Rio de Janeiro Attorney General's Office should thoroughly investigate not only the officers directly involved in the raid, but also civil police commanders who planned and initiated it," Human Rights Watch Americas director Jose Miguel Vivanco said.
HRW said the police should be investigated for breaking a Supreme Court ruling prohibiting raids during the pandemic, except in absolutely exceptional cases. It argued that a 200-man strong operation against what was described as a low-level gang appeared to be unwarranted.
The organization pointed to several holes in the investigation. It said that the head of the police watchdog's homicide department claimed that there were "no executions" made during the raid even before officers were interviewed. Only a few officers testified.
