UN experts have called for urgent reforms in Brazil against "racialized" police brutality following the killings of at least 23 Brazilians during police raids and checks.

In a statement, three UN-appointed independent human rights experts said they have repeatedly raised their concerns about the excessive and lethal use of force by law enforcement officials in Brazil and "the disproportionate impact on Brazilians of African descent."

The experts noted that the latest reports of police brutality appear to show that human rights violations continue with impunity, according to a United Nations report.

Experts repeated calls to follow international standards when it comes to the use of force. They said using potentially lethal force "is an extreme measure," which may be resorted to only when necessary to protect life or prevent serious injury from an imminent threat.

The UN experts have been in communication with the Brazilian government to address the allegation and clarify its obligations under international law.

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Police Brutality During Favela Cruzeiro Raid in Brazil

The Guardian reported that at least 21 people had been shot dead, and seven others were wounded during a police raid on Favela Cruzeiro in Rio de Janeiro in late May to capture the leaders of a drug trafficking organization.

The deaths included a woman who was hit by a stray bullet during the exchange of gunfire between gang members and police. Seven wounded people, including a policeman, were taken to a hospital.

Residents said on social media that heavy shooting started in darkness in a wooded area next to Vila Cruzeiro, which had sparked fear and panic in the slum.

A Reuters photographer near the scene said the gunfire started again in the afternoon. Colonel Ivan Blaz, the spokesman for the militarized police force that led the operation, said it was a "very intense confrontation."

The police operation was backed by a helicopter. It targeted leaders of Rio's largest organized crime gang, the Comando Vermelho, believed to be hiding in Vila Cruzeiro.

Military police and federal highway police conducted the operation jointly, wherein police seized 16 vehicles, 13 automatic rifles, pistols, and grenades.

Earlier this year, Brazil's Supreme Court established a series of conditions for police to conduct raids in Rio's favelas to decrease police killings and violations of human rights.

Police Brutality in Brazil

Reuters reported that both murders and killings by police increased in Brazil in 2020 despite the COVID-19 pandemic.

Homicides in Brazil rose by 4% in 2020, with 50,033 people killed, according to the Brazilian Yearbook of Public Security. The country's police killed 6,416 people, an increase of 0.3% compared to the previous year.

Nearly 200,000 new guns were registered in Brazil in 2020 after the loosening of restrictions. It was almost double the number in the previous year.

At the time of the reporting, around 1.3 million guns were registered with Brazil's federal police.

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This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Mary Webber

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