Amnesty demands crackdown on police death squads in Brazil

A report released yesterday claims that "death squads" - groups of rogue military police who have been accused of the mass murder of people living in favelas (slums) - are on the rise across the country.

It includes accounts from victims and relatives of routine extortion, theft and police brutality that sometimes results in death. According to official figures, more than 2,000 people were killed in Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro in 2003 in cases labelled "resistance followed by death". Amnesty believes the true figures are far higher.

Working with grassroots organisations in Brazil's largest cities, Amnesty has compiled a dossier of claims that police repeatedly cover up shootings before a forensic investigation can take place. Witnesses and relatives are intimidated by police, with many too scared to speak out, even in the rare cases where investigations are conducted, according to community human rights groups. Groups also claim that there has been a rise in reports of police sexually abusing and beating young people in the favelas.

Amnesty, which accuses Brazil's government of "betrayal" of its poorest citizens, is calling for an immediate national action plan to be implemented to overhaul the system.

Launching the report, They Come in Shooting, in Sao Paulo, Tim Cahill, Amnesty International's lead researcher on Brazil, claimed that police were putting lives at risk.

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http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/article330839.ece