Amnesty International uncovers security crisis in Brazil

The security crisis facing the largest Latin American country was aggravated in 2014 with the higher number of homicides, killings during police operations, torture cases, excessive use of force to repress protests, and violent deaths in overcrowded prisons.

Data were taken from the Amnesty International Report 2014/15 - The State of the World's Human Rights, released worldwide on Wednesday (Feb 25). Director of Amnesty International Brazil Atila Roque said that Brazil is one of the countries with the highest number of murders, surpassing territories afflicted by armed conflicts and war.

“Clearly, a country that loses nearly 60 thousand people to violence has not been capable of living up to the main principle of the state, which is to protect life. The picture is bleaker when one's reminded that some 30 thousand [of those murdered] are young people aged 15 to 29,” he argued.

Another issue highlighted by the organization is impunity. According to the survey, less than 8% of murders make it to the Brazilian courts. “It's almost as if there were a license to kill, because it's only brought under investigation when [the crime is] committed in broad daylight, in front of everybody else, among people you know, when everybody sees who did it,” Roque said.

He further notes that Brazil ranks forth in jail population. “It's over 500 thousand inmates. There are too many arrests it's not done properly, because we take to jail those who don't commit violent crimes. People in jail are those who have committed a crime against public and private property, drug trafficking, which is rather controversial.”

Information from the document further indicates that the militarization of public security, with the excessive use of force, especially in peripheral territories like favelas, contributes to the high lethal violence rate in the country. “Over the course of five years, the Brazilian police killed more than the US police did in 30 years. And they're not the most peaceful in the world either. They're one of the police bodies that kill the most among developed nations,” the director remarked. He also mentioned, however, the high number of fatalities among the police.

In their report, Amnesty International draws attention to a number of incidents, like the murder of bricklayer Amarildo de Souza in 2013; the arrest of Rafael Braga Vieira, the only person sentenced during the demonstrations in June 2013; the massacre in Belém, which left ten people killed in November; the rebellion at the Pedrinhas Prison, in the state of Maranhão; the possible retrogressive steps in laws on land demarcation and abortion; the violent repression of demonstrations before and during the World Cup; and the delay in ratifying the Arms Trade Treaty.

Recommendations directed at the country include a nationwide plan for reducing homicides, and demilitarizing and reforming the police, with external control mechanisms, better training and working conditions for security agents, and intelligence during investigations. The organization also calls for a protection plan for human rights advocates.

“We must address the topic of reforming police bodies. We must think of public security as a field for reinforcing, not violating, human rights, as an issue covered by public policies, and therefore a problem of the state. Public security is not in the hand of the police alone. This notion should be widespread in Brazil so we can put an end to this cycle of horror,” Roque pointed out.

As positive strides, Amnesty International mentions the 75 police convicted in 1992 for the death of 111 detainees during the rebellion at the Carandiru Prison, the creation of the National System for Preventing and Fighting Torture; the final report from the National Truth Commission, and the strides made in behalf of the lesbians, gays, bisexuals, and transgenders.

Translated by Fabrício Ferreira