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In this week´s edition of News from Brazil:

Militias formed by police, ex-police officers, firemen, prison workers, and military personnel have expelled drug traffickers from the west and northern areas of the city of Rio de Janeiro. The militias invaded and occupied 3 of the 17 favelas (slum-areas) of the Maré region, closed streets in the suburbs and are now doing the same in the southern part of the city.

A few weeks ago, managers of 45 condominiums in Leme, RJ received written proposals to adopt a system of protection for 24 hours a day. The proposal, signed by a retired Sergeant of the Military Police, offers security in the four streets close to a nearby slum because of "the high incidence of criminality." The price of the "security tax" is given only after the residents approve the proposal. Payments to the militias are then made on a monthly basis. Condominium managers rejected the proposals and denounced the actions of the militias after consulting with their residents. Even though the Military Police Sergeant is officially retired, he continues to work in the 9^th Military Police Battalion. This military police unit is responsible for a part of the western zone of Rio de Janeiro that is a type of "paradise" for militias who control all of the favelas, except for Cidade de Deus (City of God favela).

The militia action in this area began in the 1970´s and the practice spread out in the region. Militias take the place of drug traffickers and charge residents and business owners a "security tax". This tax is also paid to use alternative transportation (vans, motor taxis), buy cooking gas for homes and businesses, clandestine cable TV, etc.

Representatives of the community, generally police officers who live there, are the link to establish a militia. With the occupation, other militia members move to the neighborhood. The drug dealers are then killed or expelled. As with drug-trafficking, the militias give assistance to the residents in order to "win their appeal". This month, the militia announced that they would distribute baskets of food and Christmas toys to the residents of Quitungo and Guaporé in the northern zone of the city. These two neighborhoods are famous for the presence of the militia called "The Galactics", whose members are police and ex-police officers who lived in the area, took advantage of the weakening of the drug traffickers and imposed their rule. They invited co-workers with experience in similar militia actions to join them. At least 20 young men, "said" to be involved in criminal activity in the neighborhood, have disappeared. The police responsible for the area say that they do not have "official" proof of these disappearances and are not investigating them.

In the western part of the city, another militia group stands out. They are known as "The Righteous" and their symbol is Batman. The militia members dress in clothes with this Batman symbol.

Their cars have large stickers symbolizing their super-hero. The militia chief, according to the residents, is police officer whose nickname is "Mata Rindo" (Laughing as He Kills).

Last month, a part of the Maré Favela complex was invaded and occupied by militias who killed those whom they determined were involved in drug-trafficking. The Maré Favela complex has 240,000 residents in 17 favelas in one urban area. According to residents, the Military Police helped the militias in the operation. The invasions were done by the caveirão, the big armour-clad cars/trucks of the police department. The police department of Maré denies its participation, but admits that the militias installed themselves in the favela. An ex-commander of the Military Police controls the communities at this time. In some favelas, authorization must be given to enter the neighborhood. A monthly security tax is paid by residents, small and large business owners. The militias authorize the use of a swimming pool in the area for the residents. The occupation of Maré has caused great fear in the population because of the possibility of an "urban war".

Inspector Mareina Maggessi, of the Civil Police says that soldiers, commanders, and sergeants of the police force learned from coronels who historically controlled neighborhoods of the elite in Rio de Janeiro. According to her, "We heard that they charge for this and for that. The residents adore these militias because they get rid of "criminals." She also states that "the population is crazy for someone to protect them because the state has failed them."

Source: Folha de São Paulo, Dec. 12, 2006

Since 2005, social movements, NGOs, community residents, families of the victims of police violence and Amnesty International have denounced the caveirão used by the police in Rio de Janeiro.

"Imagine an official armoured vehicle, emblazoned with a skull and a sword, with police who come in shooting – first at the streetlights, then at the neighborhood’s residents… this is the caveirão. An eleven-year-old boy had his head torn off his body by shots which came from the caveirão – and we, the residents, still have to prove that it was the police." Resident of Caju community, where the caveirão has been deployed, 2 December 2005.

"We operate as we would in a conventional war, where the tank leads the way and the infantry surrounds the enemy." BOPE commander, Colonel Venâncio Moura

The favelas of Rio de Janeiro – from the hilltops of the Zona Sul (south zone) to the plains of the Baixada Fluminense – live in a state of permanent tension. These are some of the poorest and most vulnerable communities in Brazil, enjoying little or no provision of public services. Thrown back on their own resources, Rio’s favelas have grown into networks of narrow alleys, makeshift lean-tos and improvised plumbing and wiring. For these communities the hardships of poverty are compounded by a constant sense of insecurity and imminent violence.

Drug gangs have rushed in to fill the vacuum left by the state, organising themselves into the rival factions that now dominate the city. The state government’s response has been a series of ever more confrontational crack-downs, involving large-scale police operations which target not just criminal gangs, but entire favela communities.

Four years ago, with violence escalating, the police brought into service a military-style vehicle, colloquially known as the caveirão. The introduction of the caveirão marked a new phase for Rio de Janeiro’s shanty towns – heavy armoury was now being deployed in the heart of residential areas. The caveirão also sent out powerful signals about the state government’s thinking on public security. The approach is to meet violence with violence, in a strategy of confrontation and intimidation. Trapped between the police and the drug gangs, Rio’s most deprived communities are now paying the price.

The caveirão is a security van that has been adapted into military-style assault vehicle. The word caveirão literally means "big skull" - a reference to the emblem of the Special Battalion of Police Operations (BOPE), which is prominently displayed on the side of the vehicle. Among the modifications made to the original security vans are a turret, able to rotate through 360 degrees, and rows of firing positions running along each side of the body of the van. The caveirão can carry up to 12 heavily-armed officers.

Built to resist high-powered weapons and explosives, the caveirão has two layers of armoury, as well as a steel grill for protecting windows when under heavy fire. Its tires are coated with a glutinous

substance which prevents punctures. Its four doors lock automatically and cannot be opened from the outside – two escape hatches, one out of the turret and the other in the floor can be used in emergencies. Although it weighs around 8 tons, the caveirão can reach speeds of up to 120km an hour.

So far, the Rio authorities have bought 10 caveirões, at a cost of R$135,000 each (approx. US$62,000), to police Rio’s shanty towns, with plans to increase the fleet in the coming years. In a sign that this approach to policing may be spreading beyond Rio de Janeiro, Santa Catarina state bought its first caveirão in 2004. Police officials claim the caveirão is essential for the protection of officers on dangerous missions. Yet for the communities subjected to caveirão-led patrols, the reality is very different.

The caveirão as a tool of intimidation

Caveirão-led operations use both physical and psychological threats, designed to intimidate whole communities. The BOPE’s emblem (see below) – a skull, impaled on a sword, backed by two gold pistols – sends out a strong, unambiguous message. As explained on the BOPE website, the emblem symbolises armed combat, war and death.

Amnesty International has grave concerns around the manner in which the caveirão has been deployed. The organisation has received reports of caveirões driving into communities firing at random, sending people running for their lives. According to Edilson Santos, the director of the arts centre Lona Cultural in the Complexo da Maré, from 10 o’clock onwards caveirões routinely enter the community shooting. "Often, when you are coming back from work, you see mothers, children and other people running in fear. It even seems like they’re guilty of something. It’s so sad. Everyone – young people, children, old people, artists – we are all anxious about how unsafe this vehicle is."

Loud-speakers mounted on the outside of the vehicle repeatedly announce the caveirão’s arrival. Expressions used vary from the polite: "Residents, we are here to defend your community. Please, don’t go out of your homes, it’s dangerous"; to the alarmist: "Children, get out of the street. There’s going to be a shootout"; to outright intimidation: "We have come to take your souls". When the caveirão approaches someone in the street, police shout through the megaphone: "Hey, you over there! You are acting suspiciously. Move very slowly, lift up your shirt, turn around… now you can go". Amnesty International has also received reports of police swearing and using derogatory language against residents, particularly women.

The tone and the language used by police during caveirão-led operations are hostile and authoritarian. The threats and insults have had a traumatising effect on communities, with children particularly vulnerable. According to local NGOs, since the caveirão’s introduction, children have begun to suffer emotional and psychological problems. The innocent fear of "the bogeyman" has been replaced by that of the caveirão – a sad reflection on police violence.

Source: Amnesty International Web-site, 2006

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