- Page 2
- Page 1 of 11
Lethal Force
Police Violence and Public Security in Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo
I. Executive Summary
Police Killings
Police Cover Ups
Police Investigations
Police Impunity
Key Recommendations
II. Methodology
III. Background
Violence by Criminal Gangs
Inadequate Pay and Police Corruption
Reform Initiatives
Criminal Justice in Brazil
Brazil’s Obligations Under
International Law..
Prohibition of Extrajudicial
Executions
Duty to Investigate and Prosecute
Abuses
IV. Police Killings
“Resistance” Killings
Widespread Scope of Extrajudicial
Executions
The Ten Most Lethal Military Police
Battalions in Rio de Janeiro
ROTA: One of São Paulo’s
Most Lethal Military Police Units
Killings by Death Squads and Militias
São Paulo’s Death Squads
Rio’s Militias
V. Police Cover Ups
False “Rescues”
Missing Clothes
Broad Scope of the False
“Rescues” Problem..
Police Duty to Rescue
Planting of Evidence
Witness Intimidation
VI. Police Investigations
Investigatory Failures
Failure to Adequately Question Police
Officers
Failure to Interview All Police
Officers Involved in a Killing
Failure to Interview Non-Police
Eyewitnesses
Failure to Conduct Forensic
Examinations
Failure to Promptly Conduct
Investigations
Failure to Track Records of
Individual Officers
Failure to Ensure That Officers Under
Investigation Be Taken Off Street Duties
Conflicts of Interest
Civil Police Inquiries
Forensics Institutes
Police Internal Affairs
VII. Police Impunity
Impunity for Police Killings
Impunity for Police Cover Ups
Limited Accountability for Killings
by Off-Duty Officers
The Role of State Prosecutors
Institutional Autonomy
Prosecution of Crimes
Oversight of the Police
Obstacles to Effective Prosecution
and Oversight
Delayed Notification
Case Distribution
Legal Challenges
Reliance on Police Investigators
Limits of Other External Accountability
Mechanisms
Ombudsman’s Offices
Federal Mechanisms
VIII. Recommendations
I. Establish Special Prosecutorial
Units for Police Killing Cases
II. Ensure the Success of Special
Prosecutorial Units
III. Additional Measures to Curb
Police Abuse and Impunity
To the Federal Special Secretariat
for Human Rights
To the President of Brazil and the
National Congress
Acknowledgments
Appendix: Police Killing Statistics
in Rio by Area, Precinct, and Battalion
- Page 2
- Page 1 of 11