Complexo do Alemão massacre

The Complexo do Alemão massacre was the result of an ongoing conflict between drug dealers and the police in the borough of the same name in Rio de Janeiro, which consisted of a group of large favelas in the northern region of the city. The massacre happened on June 27, 2007, when a huge Military and Civil Polices operation killed nineteen people and injured several others. The Order of Attorneys of Brazil issued a report claiming that at least eleven of the people killed had no relations with drug trafficking whatsoever. ^[1] Until the end of the XV Pan-American Games a large siege was formed by the police in the region—to secure the safety of the international event, some people claim ^[2]. A report published by the federal government revealed that there were executions at the operation ^[3].

Victims

Killed

According to official records, at least 44 people were killed by the police in Complexo do Alemão since May 2, 2007 ^[2]. Nineteen people were killed by the police at the June 27, 2007 operation.

Response

Federal government

The Special Secretariat for Human Rights, an office attached to the Presidency of the Republic, issued a report claiming that there were executions at the operation, beside the fact that no exact number is given. Accordingly, the nineteen people killed received an average of 3.84 shots each. Fourteen were killed with a shot in the upper part of the body, six of them in the face ^[3].

Rio de Janeiro government

José Mariano Beltrame, the officer in charge of the Public Security Department in the state of Rio de Janeiro, responded to the federal government report by saying that "it was done in a hurry by those who are interested in deturp the fair cause of the human rights. This report reveal little about the facts, generating just a confusion". Also according to him, the federal government report is "disqualified" because the forensic doctors have not gone to Rio de Janeiro after the operation ^[3].

See also

• List of massacres in Brazil

References

1. ^ "OAB suspeita de execução em operação no Rio" ("OAB suspects of execution in police operation in Rio"). Último Segundo. June 29, 2007. Retrieved November 2, 2007.
2. ^ ^{a b} "O Haiti é aqui, no Complexo do Alemão" ("Haiti is here, in the Complexo do Alemão"). Luciana Candido. United Socialist Workers' Party website. June 29, 2007. Retrieved November 2, 2007.
3. ^ ^{a b c} "Relatório da União acusa operação policial no Rio de "execução sumária" ("Federal government report accuses the operation in Rio of being an execution"). Folha de S. Paulo. November 1, 2007. Retrieved November 2, 2007.