HRW Letter on a Case of Police Abuses in the Brazilian Amazon

Mr. Morris Tidball-Binz 
Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions
United Nations, Geneva

Subject: Appalling Case of Police Abuses in Brazil’s Amazon

Dear UN Special Rapporteur Mr. Morris Tidball-Binz,

I am writing on behalf of Human Rights Watch to bring to your attention a series of killings and acts of torture allegedly committed by police in an Indigenous territory and riverside communities in the Brazilian state of Amazonas in August 2020. To this day, no one has been held accountable for the abuses.

The killings and torture occurred during a large-scale Amazonas state police operation, launched after two police officers were killed during a shootout in the area. In the ensuing operation, at least six people were killed: two Indigenous men, two non-Indigenous men, and a woman and her 15-year-old son. Two other men are missing; residents, federal police, and federal prosecutors believe they were also killed.[1] 

During the police operation, officers entered homes without court orders, and threatened, beat, and tortured residents, including by putting plastic bags on their heads, placing a child inside a freezer, and keeping families in arbitrary detention, according to federal police and prosecutors.

We urge you to help ensure justice in this case by:

• Requesting information from the Brazilian government on the status of investigations and accountability efforts;
• Meeting with authorities and local activists and victims, online if in person is not feasible;
• Including this case in your reports;
• Making recommendations to Brazilian authorities on appropriate measures toward accountability and preventing similar abuses from occurring in the future;
• Urging Brazilian authorities to protect witnesses and victims of police abuses, as well as local activists advocating for justice;
• Calling on Brazilian authorities to protect the rights of community members, ensure justice for the killings and other crimes, and provide reparations for human rights abuses and harm caused to victims and their families.

This memo summarizes what we know about the killings and torture in August 2020, and subsequent investigations and judicial processes initiated by federal and Amazonas state authorities. While federal police have conducted meaningful investigations into some aspects of the case and federal prosecutors have filed charges, the response as a whole has been inadequate, marred by serious failures by both state and federal authorities. As noted above, no officers or officials have yet been held accountable for any of the human rights violations that accompanied the police operation.

The description of events and findings set forth in this memo are based on interviews conducted by Human Rights Watch with federal authorities, local leaders, and a person who described a torture session at the hands of the state police, as well as an analysis of official documents, including statements from witnesses collected by federal police and prosecutors, forensic reports, federal police reports, and charging documents by federal prosecutors.

Summary of State Failures

There have been serious failures by federal and state authorities in this case.

First, authorities failed to take action to prevent or stop abuses in the lead-up to and during the events of August 2020:

• A federal prosecutor spoke to the then-Amazonas state secretary of public security, who is in charge of the state police, on August 3, 2020, when the state police operation was just beginning, and warned about the risk of human rights abuses. The federal prosecutor offered to have federal prosecutors or police join the operation, but the state secretary refused the offer.
• Authorities were on notice of abuses early on: Human Rights Watch issued a press release on August 8, 2020, calling on federal police to protect Indigenous and local residents, and collect evidence of abuses.[2] The press release included a statement from a community leader who said he was tortured by state police.
• Federal police arrived in the city of Nova Olinda do Norte on August 10, but, except for a single visit to one village, they stayed in the city for 15 days without deploying to the communities along the Abacaxis River where the abuses were occurring. The federal police officer in charge allegedly said they were following “superior orders” not to deploy. 

Second, the criminal investigation has had serious shortcomings:

• Representatives of local civil society said that they gave federal police information about additional bodies left in the forest, but officers refused to go to those locations.[3] Two men remain missing. 
• Federal police investigators allege state, civil and military police failed to provide them with crucial evidence and information. Yet federal police did not seek a court order to seize the evidence.
• Federal police leaders have changed the officer in charge of the investigation six times, without explanation, prompting concerns from local civil society organizations that one or more of the changes may have been politically motivated.[4]
• Amazonas state civil police opened investigations against some victims of police abuses, alleging that the victims committed crimes, in what federal authorities have suggested could be retaliation.[5] 

Federal prosecutors eventually filed charges against the former secretary of public security and the former chief of military police in Amazonas state, as well as 10 additional military police and one civil police officer. The charges include homicide, concealment of a corpse, kidnapping, and torture. Each of the 13 men faces different charges. 

The criminal cases are currently stalled due to legal disputes over court jurisdiction. Meanwhile, Indigenous and local communities in the region, as well as members of local organizations, are afraid of new threats and violence, several activists told Human Rights Watch.[6]

The Police Operation

The events that led to the state police operation started on July 23, 2020, when two private fishing boats docked along the Abacaxis River in Nova Olinda do Norte, Amazonas state. One of the boats, called Arafat, carried the then-Amazonas state secretary for social development, Saulo Moyses Rezende da Costa.

A local resident who works with state officials to enforce fishing regulations boarded the Arafat and determined that it lacked the required permit to fish in the area, the resident told Human Rights Watch.[7] Fishing is restricted in the area due to the existence of two “Agro-Extractivist Settlement Projects,” created by the federal land-reform agency (Instituto Nacional de Colonização e Reforma Agrária, INCRA), and the Indigenous territory of the Maraguá people, which is in the process of demarcation. 

Indigenous and other residents in those areas live off small-scale fishing and forest resources. In addition, Maraguá Indigenous people told the National Human Rights Council—a body made up of government and justice officials and civil society—that they believe Sateré-Mawé Indigenous people in voluntary isolation also live in the area.[8]

Despite lacking a fishing permit, the boat continued on the river toward the Terra Preta community. There, the boat was allegedly shot at by local residents. Costa said he suffered a minor injury, although he did not produce evidence of the injury to federal police investigators.[9] Witnesses told federal police and prosecutors that he promised to return to seek revenge.[10] On August 3, 2020, the Arafat and two other private boats returned to the Abacaxis River, carrying about 10 undercover state military police officers, federal prosecutors said. At Terra Preta there was a shootout and, according to the Amazonas state secretary of public security, two officers were killed and two others injured.[11] Indigenous people living near the site of the shooting told federal prosecutors that the people who fired the shots told them that they did not know those on the boat were police officers, but rather thought they were individuals attacking the community, since the officers were not in uniform and were in a private boat.

The Amazonas state Secretariat of Public Security later claimed that police were “ambushed by a criminal group” involved in drug trafficking.[12]

In response, it sent 50 military police officers to the area, including colonel Ayrton Norte, the then-commander of the Amazonas state military police.[13]

Residents told federal police that state police officers went from community to community invading and burning homes, threatening, beating, and torturing people as they went. The police officers reportedly asked residents for information about a man known as “Bacurau,” whom police blamed for the killing of the police officers. In addition, a community leader told Human Rights Watch that police tortured him in the main town in the area, Nova Olinda.[14] 

The Victims

Josimar and Josivan Moraes Lopes

The first local residents who were killed were the brothers Josimar and Josivan Moraes Lopes, who were Munduruku Indigenous people. Federal police and prosecutors alleged that on August 5, 2020, military police officers approached their boat and killed them in an area called Laguinho do Bem Assim, inside the Coatá-Laranjal Indigenous territory, near the Abacaxis River.

A witness told federal investigators that he saw the military police boat going up the river and recalled hearing the motor of a second smaller boat probably coming from the opposite direction. He said he believed the boats met on the river and turned off their motors, as he stopped hearing them. A few minutes later he heard six shots, the witness said.[15] 

Geolocation data obtained from the phone of one of the police officers placed the military police’s boat in the Laguinho do Bem Assim area on the morning of August 5, 2020.[16] On August 7, 2020, Josimar’s body was found in that area. He had been shot in the back of the head, the autopsy report showed.[17]

On August 22, 2020, an Indigenous man found a skull 700 meters away from where the military police boat had passed on August 5, 2020. Genetic tests confirmed it was Josivan’s skull. Federal police alleged that the military police officers killed and dismembered him, throwing body parts in the river in an attempt to make the body disappear. The skull was the only part of the body found. Later, clothes were also found in the same area, which Josivan’s mother recognized as her son’s.[18]

On August 22, 2020, another local resident found Josimar and Josivan’s boat.[19] The boat was partially sunk, with its bow sticking out of the water. Federal police and prosecutors alleged the military officers had tried to sink the boat to hide it.[20]

A local resident who accompanied officers as a guide told federal police that he heard the then-commander of the Amazonas state military police say that officers had killed two Indigenous men.[21]

Anderson Gonçalves Monteiro, Vandrelânia de Souza Araújo, Matheus Cristiano de Souza Araújo, and Adimilson Silva dos Santos

Federal police and prosecutors alleged that military police officers killed the couple Anderson Gonçalves Monteiro and Vandrelânia de Souza Araújo, and Vandrelânia’s 15-year-old son, Matheus Cristiano de Souza Araújo. They believe they also killed Adimilson Silva dos Santos, who has been missing since August 2020. They were all residents of traditional communities in the Abacaxis River region and were traveling on the same boat.[22]

Two witnesses told federal police that two boats carrying police officers approached the victims’ boat shortly after leaving the Monte Horebe community on August 5, 2020. One witness said he saw Anderson handcuffed on a police boat later that afternoon. 

The bodies of Anderson, Vandrelânia, and Matheus were found a few days later, tied to rocks, floating in the river. The autopsy reports said that Anderson and Vandrelânia were likely shot with assault rifles, while Matheus was killed with a knife.[23] Forensic experts also documented injuries to the body of Matheus which were “not deep,” suggesting these were not intended to kill, but to cause pain to the victim.[24] Federal police allege that military officers tortured Matheus and then killed him.[25] 

The other witness—the previously mentioned guide—said that he saw the fourth passenger of the boat, Adimilson, on a military police boat on August 5 and that he spent the night handcuffed. The following day police officers departed with Adimilson. Their boat returned without him, the guide said. Nobody has seen him since.[26]

Eligelson de Souza da Silva and Other Residents of Santo Antônio do Lira Community

On August 5, 2020, military police officers arrived in Santo Antônio do Lira, a riverside community on the Abacaxis River. Residents told federal police that police officers wearing masks entered their houses without court orders and punched and kicked at least seven residents, including a six-year-old boy.[27] Police officers allegedly also placed the boy between a freezer and the wall, and pushed the freezer against him, while they demanded that the father tell them who had killed the two police officers. Later they put the child inside the freezer, the father told federal police.[28] Witnesses also said that state police spilled fuel on the bodies of the residents and threatened to set them on fire.[29] A federal police report said a resident alleged that police officers “used a fishing harpoon to threaten to stab her, to pierce her chest, and rubbed it on her face, which made her afraid of being killed.”[30] 

A resident told federal police that police invaded her house and beat, kicked, and punched her and others, including Eligelson de Souza da Silva, a man who had an intellectual disability.[31] She said that she saw Eligelson escaping and running away, and then heard shots.[32]

The Amazonas state Secretariat of Public Security claimed that Eligelson was armed with a revolver and opened fire against police officers, who killed him in self-defense. There are no reports showing any injuries to police officers in the alleged shootout.[33]

Two of the three shots that killed Eligelson were from behind, the autopsy report showed. One of the bullets hit the sole of his foot, as if he was walking or running away, while another hit the back of his right arm. The third shot hit the right part of his thorax.[34]

Benahim da Silva Freire

Federal police alleged that military police officers killed Benahim da Silva Freira near Jurupari Lake. The witness accompanying police during the raid said that he saw military police officers detaining Benahim before police took the witness away to the main boat.[35]

When the officers returned to the boat in the evening, the then-military police commander asked them about the “informant.” One of the officers pointed to his arm and made a sign with his hand, as if cutting someone’s head. The witness told federal police that he understood they had killed Benahim, who had a tattoo on his arm.[36] Benahim has not been seen since.

A Community Leader in Nova Olinda do Norte

A local community leader told Human Rights Watch that on August 4, 2020, military police took him to a hotel in Noval Olinda do Norte, where two officers hit him in the stomach and face for about 30 minutes.[37] About 10 police officers were present, including the commander of the Amazonas military police, the leader said. They kept ordering him to provide information about those responsible for the death of the two officers, but he said he did not know anything about it.[38]

Later, police officers took him to a boat moored in Nova Olinda, where they continued to beat him and also put a plastic bag over his head several times until he was about to faint, he recalled. One of the officers pulled out a folding knife and threatened to cut his genitals, the community leader said.[39]

After an hour, officers put him in a car, continued to beat him inside, and finally let him go with a warning: “If you don’t tell anyone, you’ll live. If you talk, you’ll die,” the leader said.[40]

The leader reported the torture to federal police.[41] 

Residents of Curva do Vento Community

On August 11, 2020, military police arrived in Curva do Vento, a community by the Abacaxis River where some relatives of Bacurau, the man they believed was responsible for the killing of the two fellow officers, lived.[42] Residents told federal prosecutors that military police officers entered their houses and threatened them. They said they put a plastic bag over the head of one of the residents during a torture session and that they locked up residents, including children and older people, in a community house for more than 24 hours.[43]

Bacurau’s sister told federal police that military police officers slapped her in the face and put a rifle butt on her neck. She said they took her and her husband to a nearby river in search for Bacurau. She said that the police officers opened fire, unprovoked, against a canoe carrying her sister, brother-in-law, and several children.[44]

Residents of Other Communities

Residents of the communities of Camarão, Sítio São José and Monte Horebe told federal prosecutors that military police officers entered their houses without court orders, and threatened and beat them.[45]

In Camarão, military police officers tied up a resident and beat him with the blunt side of an axe around August 5, witnesses said.[46] A federal prosecutor who visited the community a few days later said that military police officers had destroyed windows, doors, and ceilings.[47]

In Sítio São José, a resident told federal prosecutors that on August 5, military police officers forcibly entered her house and kept her there, impeding her from going out to get food. Her statement does not say how long she was kept there.[48] 

A resident of Monte Horebe told federal prosecutors that on August 5, military police officers stopped his boat and stole the food and fuel he was bringing back to his community.[49]

A Maraguá Indigenous man told federal prosecutors that he and another Maraguá man escaped their village, Mereré, after military police officers arrived shooting. When they returned to the village, they found three houses burned down, including all the property that had been inside them.[50] 

Relatives of Bacurau in Nova Olinda do Norte

On August 21, a federal court ordered the military police operation to stop. Nevertheless, on the following night, military police officers invaded the house of Bacurau’s relatives in Nova Olinda do Norte without a court order, and threatened them, as they looked for Bacurau, according to a federal police report.[51]

Bacurau’s mother told federal prosecutors that on September 1, military police officers detained her 16-year-old grandson, Bacurau’s nephew, and another boy without an arrest warrant.[52] She said officers beat the boys in the military police barracks, including with a baton, and kicked them in the stomach, while asking for Bacurau’s location. Bacurau’s mother said that the officers later took the boys to the civil police station, where the police officers beat them again. She said they spent the night handcuffed before being released the following day.[53]

Failure to Prevent or Stop the Abuses

Amazonas state authorities and federal police took inadequate measures to prevent human rights abuses when the police operation started in early August 2020 and took insufficient measures to stop the abuses once made aware of them over the following days. 

According to the charging documents, on August 3, 2020, the day that the Arafat and two other private boats returned to the Abacaxis River, carrying about 10 undercover state military police officers, a federal prosecutor called and spoke with the Amazonas secretary of public security at least four times to warn him about the risk of human rights abuses during the operation.[54] The federal prosecutor also reminded the secretary that federal authorities had jurisdiction over Indigenous territories and settlements created by the federal land-reform agency, areas that state police would be entering during the course of their operation. 

In his communications that day, the federal prosecutor also offered to have federal police and prosecutors join the operation. The state secretary rejected the offer, stating that his secretariat “would handle it on its own.”[55] 

On August 7, 2020, a judge ordered the deployment of federal police officers to protect the Indigenous and riverside communities in the region of Nova Olinda do Norte.[56]

On August 8, 2020, Human Rights Watch issued a press release that alerted of possible human rights violations by state police, including entering homes without a warrant, death threats, and killings. It also published evidence from the community leader who was allegedly tortured by state police in Nova Olinda. The press release urged federal police to deploy immediately to protect Indigenous and local residents and investigate the abuses.[57]

Federal police arrived in Nova Olinda do Norte only on August 10.[58] The following day, federal police went to the Abacaxis River area, where they found the bodies of Anderson Gonçalves Monteiro, Vandrelânia de Souza Araújo, and Matheus Cristiano de Souza Araújo. They then returned to Nova Olinda do Norte, but they stayed there another 15 days without going back to the communities in the Abacaxis River area.[59] 

A federal prosecutor stated that during that period he asked the director of federal police in Amazonas state and the federal police officer in charge of the deployment on several occasions to travel to the communities along the Abacaxis River, but to no avail.[60] 

The federal prosecutor said that on August 24, the federal police officer in charge of the deployment told him that he had not gone to the Abacaxis River area due to “superior orders.” On August 26, federal police finally visited the Terra Preta Indigenous village.[61]

Lack of Cooperation by State Police

Federal police said that state police failed to cooperate with the federal investigation. Federal police reported that the Amazonas civil police—the state force tasked with investigating crimes—did not respond to two letters federal police sent asking for the bullet removed from Josimar Moraes Lopes’ head.[62] It also said that the Amazonas military police did not provide documentation to identify which weapons were allocated to which military police officers involved in the operation.[63]

Yet, federal police appear not to have taken measures to compel state police to cooperate with their investigation, such as asking a judge to order state police to provide the evidence requested. 

Changes in the Federal Investigation

Federal police authorities have changed the officer in charge of the investigation six times.[64] The frequent changes have likely delayed the investigation, especially considering it is a complex case involving alleged police misconduct in remote locations with dozens of victims. The case file reportedly has tens of thousands of pages.

Civil society organizations criticized, in particular, the removal in September 2024 of federal police officer Francisco Vicente Badenes Júnior, who they believe was finally making progress in the investigation. Badenes, who led the federal police investigation from 2022 until his ouster, concluded in an April 2023 interim report that the former secretary of public security and the former chief of military police in Amazonas state had committed crimes and recommended prosecutors file charges against them, which they did.[65] In addition, Badenes had asked the Amazonas state civil police to provide him with a copy of their investigations against the victims of police abuses, but they did not. He then asked a federal court to order the civil police to share the investigations, but they provided only partial documentation. 

Civil society organizations believe Badenes’ persistence in digging into the facts and seeking evidence is what led to his removal.[66]

Lawsuit and Criminal Charges 

In July 2024, federal prosecutors filed a lawsuit demanding reparations from the federal government and the Amazonas state government for the human rights violations and harm caused to communities in the Abacaxis River region. Federal prosecutors also asked a judge to order Amazonas state to install cameras in police vehicles and have police use body-worn cameras, among other measures.[67] At a hearing on May 15, 2026, federal and Amazonas state authorities committed to present to the court a plan to provide health care and security to residents in the region.[68] The judge gave them 60 days, from the day of the hearing. Yet, as of July 21, 2026, after the deadline, they had not submitted the plan, according to the court’s electronic records. 

In December 2024, federal prosecutors filed charges against the commander of the military police in Amazonas state at the time, a military police officer, and a civil police officer for alleged participation in the torture of the community leader in Nova Olinda.[69] At time of writing, however, federal prosecutors had not filed any charges against any alleged perpetrators for the torture and mistreatment of other residents.

In March 2025, federal prosecutors charged the former secretary of public security and commander of the military police in Amazonas at the time of the operation, and nine other military police officers, with offenses including the killing of six people, concealment of corpses, and kidnapping.[70]

In total, federal prosecutors have charged 13 men with crimes involving police abuses. 

The Case Stalls

A dispute over which federal court should try the cases has caused additional delays. The legal question is whether the trial should be held at the first-instance federal court before a jury, as is the general rule in homicide cases, or, because it involves a former state secretary of public security who claims jurisdictional privilege as a former high ranking official, it should be held at the regional federal court.

In May 2025, the regional federal court suspended criminal charges against the 13 suspects until the lower federal court decided whether it was legally competent. The same month, the first-instance federal court decided it was competent, citing a binding ruling by the Federal Supreme Court that said that trial by jury of homicide cases, as established by Brazil’s federal constitution, prevails over any jurisdictional privilege enshrined in state constitutions.[71]

In September 2025, however, the regional federal court issued a new ruling maintaining the suspension of the criminal charges pending a decision in a different case also involving a venue dispute. The case has remained suspended since then. 

A Call for Help

The events in August 2020 involve grave human rights violations against Indigenous and riverside communities in Brazil’s Amazon. A coalition of local civil society organizations, Coletivo pelos Povos do Abacaxi, has been seeking justice for six years. Despite the large number of victims, this case is not getting the government or media attention it deserves. It is critical that international bodies support local leaders and communities if there is any chance to elucidate the circumstances of the killings and abuses allegedly committed by police, and hold those responsible accountable. 

We thank you for your attention and remain available to provide you with any additional information. You can also contact the coalition directly at pelospovosdoabacaxis@gmail.com. 

Sincerely,

César Muñoz
Brazil Director
Human Rights Watch