"At least 119 people were killed in Tuesday's bloody police raids on drug traffickers in Brazil's Rio de Janeiro, according to local police officials, nearly doubling the earlier toll of 60. Among those killed in the military-style operation targeting Rio's most powerful criminal organisation, the Comando Vermelho, were 115 gang suspects and four police officers, the police officials announced Wednesday."
"Rio state's Governor Claudio Castro put the death toll at around 60 on Wednesday, but warned that the real figure was likely higher. Rio de Janeiro's state public defender's office put the death toll even higher at 132. The elevated lethality of the operation was expected but not desired, Victor Santos, head of security for Rio state, said at a news conference Wednesday."
"Some angry residents accused police of summary killings, while mourners gathered in the streets where bodies were laid. The state came to massacre, it wasn't a [police] operation. They came directly to kill, to take lives, one woman in Penha Complex told the AFP news agency. There are people who have been executed, many of them shot in the back of the head, shot in the back. This cannot be considered public safety, said 36-year-old resident and activist Raul Santiago."
Police raids in Rio de Janeiro killed at least 119 people, with local police reporting 115 suspected gang members and four officers killed and the public defender’s office reporting 132 deaths. The military-style operation targeted the Comando Vermelho and involved about 2,500 officers concentrated in the Penha and Alemao complexes. State officials said higher lethality was expected but not desired. Residents accused police of summary killings and reported many were shot in the back of the head. Federal authorities and the UN called for adherence to human rights law and a prompt investigation.
Read at www.aljazeera.com
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]