IACHR refers case of Police brutality in Brazil to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights.

On 9 June 2021, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights concluded its merit reports about the case of José Airton Honorato et al. (Castelinho) v. Brazil and decided to fill the case before the Inter-American Court. The IACHR claims the international responsibility of the Brazilian State regarding the assassination of 12 civilians in 2002 by the hands of police officers in the state of São Paulo. In its merit reports, the commission stated that in 2001, the Public security secretary of the state of São Paulo initiated an intelligence operation that aimed to tackle the organized crime in the city of Sorocaba. However, this plan counted with several illegal manoeuvres, such as judicial decisions that early release convicted persons to act as informants in criminal organizations. In an event in 2002, the military police carried out an operation called “Castelinho”, the name of a place where it would combat the main criminal organization in Sorocaba. In the end, the police fired more than 700 gunshots against a bus, claiming that the passengers demonstrated resistance to the operation. In its merit report, the IACHR concluded that Brazil did not prove that the operation had planned to fulfil the legal requirements of Article 4 of the American Convention on Human Rights about the use of force.  For further information, please visit: https://www.oas.org/en/IACHR/jsForm/?File=/en/iachr/media_center/PReleases/2021/146.asp