Cáritas Brazil demands a rigorous investigation of the police operation that left more than 100 dead in Rio de Janeiro

Cáritas Brazil expressed its “deep indignation” after the police operation yesterday, October 28, in Rio de Janeiro, which left more than 100 dead.

In a “Manifesto for investigation into the tragedy of extreme violence in the state of Rio de Janeiro”, published on social networks, the organization demands “a rigorous and transparent investigation of each death and each injury, especially when there are indications that civilians and innocents were seriously affected.”

“As an organization of the Catholic Church, we reaffirm that security is not built with weapons or specific operations, but with structural policies: education, decent housing, job creation, institutional reform and effective security policies,” he noted.

Cáritas stated that it is “committed to the promotion of peace, the defense of human rights and the strengthening of the dignity of each person” and remains “vigilant and active so that this tragedy does not fall into oblivion.”

“We need profound changes in social justice for a truly safer world,” the manifesto concludes.

Cáritas Brasil is an organization of the National Conference of Bishops of Brazil (CNBB) that, as defined on its official pages, “works on human rights and sustainable development.” It is chaired by the Archbishop of Cuiabá, Mons. Mário Antônio da Silva.

The Public Security of Rio de Janeiro yesterday carried out an operation against the Red Command, one of the largest criminal organizations in Brazil, with the aim of executing one hundred arrest warrants and stopping its territorial expansion. The operation was carried out in the Alemão and Penha complexes, in the northern part of the city.

At the end of the morning, the police arrived at the locations of the operation and the drug traffickers reacted with gunshots and barricades. According to the Civil Police, the criminals even responded with bombs dropped by drones.

Throughout the day, drug traffickers orchestrated reprisals throughout the city, setting up barricades with seized vehicles or debris on major roads in Rio de Janeiro.

According to a report published by the government of Rio de Janeiro, at least 64 people died in the operation, including four police officers. Another 81 people were arrested and nearly one hundred rifles were seized.

In the early hours of October 29, residents of the Penha complex moved at least 64 bodies to a plaza in the area, which were recovered from the forest where clashes occurred between security forces and drug traffickers. According to the Secretary of the Military Police, Colonel Marcelo de Menezes Nogueira, these bodies were not included in the official figures published.

In its manifesto, Cáritas strongly condemned “the escalation of violence, which transforms territories into zones of permanent confrontation.” “Security operations cannot become the path to solutions that threaten human life by transforming cities into territories of fear,” the organization said.

By demanding an investigation into what happened, Cáritas requests “that public powers guarantee respect for human rights, dignity and justice, without exceptions.”

Translated and adapted by the ACI Prensa team. Originally published in ACI Digital.