“A Strategy of Death”. A new Human Rights Watch investigation and accompanying feature detail how police officers tampered with body cameras during a deadly raid in a low-income neighborhood in Rio de Janeiro in October 2025 and how Human Rights Watch investigators analyzed the evidence.
The year-long investigation, “‘A Strategy of Death’: Investigating Brazil’s Deadliest Police Operation,” documents Operation Containment, a raid ostensibly to arrest gang members, in which 122 people were killed.
Watch the video: What happened during Brazil’s deadliest documented police raid in Rio de Janeiro?
None of the killings were captured in the thousands of hours of body camera footage sent by Rio de Janeiro Military Police to the Public Defender’s Office, which Human Rights Watch reviewed after being granted access.
Machine-Enabled Forensics. During the investigation, Human Rights Watch researchers used Artificial Intelligence to analyze thousands of hours of body camera footage and looked at videos, official investigation files, and autopsy records for every victim. Yet crucial questions remain because police failed to properly record killings, preserve crime scenes, or collect crucial data.
Analysis of the footage of the 527 military police officers who wore the cameras found widespread tampering and obstruction of their use. Officers left cameras running before the operation, draining batteries, covered lenses, placed cameras where they would not capture officers’ actions, and left cameras in vehicles.
Such tampering consistently occurred at key moments, during arrests, shootouts, or while officers entered homes.
“Our investigation shows police flouted the law and their own protocols during the disastrous raid,” said César Muñoz, Brazil director at Human Rights Watch. “Abusive police practices undermine public security by making communities less willing to collaborate with police, while fueling a cycle of violence that endangers both residents and police officers.
