‘They have free rein’: Rio residents fear police violence under far-right rule
New governor promised ‘slaughter’ of gangsters, drawing comparisons with bloody Philippines drug war
The Guardian (UK)
Friday, May 17, 2019
Friday, May 17, 2019
During campaigning last year, Rio’s new, far-right governor, Wilson Witzel, promised a “slaughter” of gun-toting drug gangsters using helicopters and snipers – leading to comparisons with the Philippines president Rodrigo Duterte’s bloody drug war. Now fears are growing that the policy is being implemented in Rio, fed by a record high of 434 deaths in confrontations with police in the first three months of this year. Renata Souza, the chair of the human rights commission at Rio’s legislative assembly, wrote to the UN rapporteur on extrajudicial killings that Witzel was “legitimising” police violence in favelas.
