Brazil Supreme Court Wants Review of Ruling After Fatal Police Raid
A girl stands in a doorway beneath stairs as Brazilian soldiers stand on patrol in the Rocinha 'favela' community on September 25, 2017 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The Brazilian Army and other armed forces entered the favela on September 22 in an ongoing operation following firefights involving drug gangs in the favela, which is one of the largest in Latin America. Rio has suffered an uptick in violence following the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. Mario Tama/Getty Images

Brazil Supreme Court wants to review its last year's ruling banning police raids into Rio de Janeiro favelas after the recent police raid, which took the lives of 25 people.

Supreme Court Justice Marco Aurélio Mello said that the May 6 police raid should be investigated. However, he did not say if it violated the earlier ruling, according to an Associated Press News report.

He added that the decision came from the assumption that the ruling would be temporary. Three other justices from the court backed Mello on his view that the ruling should be reviewed.

Recent Police Raid

At least 25 people were reported to have been killed during a police raid that then led to a shootout in Rio de Janeiro.

One police officer was killed during the shootout, who was Inspector Andre Leonardo de Mello Frias.

Police decided to launch the operation after they receive tips and reports that drug traffickers were trying to recruit children to join their criminal organization, according to a BBC News report.

Police Chief Ronaldo Oliviera said that the raid reported the largest number of deaths in a police operation in Rio de Janeiro.

Local reports showed some of the suspects were trying to escape from the police through rooftops of the favelas.

Meanwhile, residents caught in the police raid said that some suspects who wanted to surrender were killed.

Residents also claimed that police had entered homes without a warrant, according to another BBC News report.

This had prompted a reaction from the United Nations human rights office due to allegations of abuse and extrajudicial executions.

Rupert Colville, a spokesman for the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, was calling for the prosecutor to conduct a separate and thorough investigation into the case based on international standards.

Colville noted that the use of force should only be used as a last option, according to an NPR report.

However, police denied the allegations, noting that the troops acted in self-defense.

Court Ruling on Police Operations

Last year, the Supreme Court had prohibited all kinds of police raids in Rio de Janeiro's favelas during the pandemic.

This was part of their efforts to alleviate the suffering of the poor, particularly those who were disproportionately affected by the COVID pandemic.

Andre Dread, a member of activist group Frente CDD, said that the court ruling had allowed them to distribute help to those in need who do not receive much of the aid.

Dread added this was particularly due to police operations done frequently done around the area, according to a Reuters report.

In the court ruling, police were mandated not to enter favelas in Rio except in "absolutely exceptional cases" until the end of the pandemic.

The law enforcement officials acknowledge that the ban led to a decline in killings by police.

However, they also expressed concerns that the lack of presence of officers in favelas had allowed drug-trafficking gangs to gather their strength during the pandemic.

One of the most violent states in Brazil is Rio de Janeiro due to being under the control of criminal groups.

WATCH: Brazil: At Least 25 dead in police raid in Rio de Janeiro | Shootout | World News | English News - from WION