By 
27-10-2024
Stella Liantsi
South and East Asia Researcher,
Global Human Rights Defence.
In the 57th session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva, United Nations experts shared their harsh findings regarding the systemic racism in law enforcement in Brazil.
Over 100 testimonies from victims of police violence, their families, and impacted communities were collected during a 12-day visit to Brazil in 2023 by the International Independent Expert Mechanism to Advance Racial Justice and Equality in Law Enforcement (EMLER). EMLER was established in 2021 in response to a worldwide outcry over the police killing of George Floyd in the US.
More than 6,000 people are killed by Brazilian police officers each year. Victims of African origin are three times more likely to be victims than white persons. The experts pointed out that the violent incidents are not unique but rather “show an alarming pattern” and have led to a “profound lack of trust” and “deep and generalised erosion” in law enforcement, especially among marginalised communities. Public security in Brazil has been weakened by police abuse and the ensuing breach of trust as Human Rights Watch has documented. Communities are less inclined to work together with the police on criminal investigations as a result of the mistrust, which also feeds a violent cycle that puts both people and police personnel at risk.
The issue is made worse by widespread impunity for police misconduct. UN specialists emphasised the “serious gaps” in investigations. The fact that police in Brazil look into police killings themselves “compromises the credibility and impartiality of the investigations”. Furthermore, forensic specialists frequently work for the civil police, a setup that further erodes independence. Human Rights Watch also detailed tactics used by police to conceal unlawful use of legal force, including removing victims’ clothing, fabricating evidence, intimidating witnesses, and transporting victim bodies to the hospital while pretending they were only hurt in order to destroy evidence from crime scenes.
The report exposes the racist systems that millions of Black Brazilians endure on a daily basis and gives some recommendations for the improvement of public security. It suggests adopting a national strategy to “drastically reduce the number of killings by law enforcement and ensure “prompt, effective and independent investigation” in every instance of overuse of police force. The specialists also recommend the creation of specialist prosecutor units with adequate funding. Better support for officers to carry out their public safety responsibilities is another aspect of police reform that is required since there were 26 percent more police officers who committed suicide in 2023 than the year before. Lastly, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights mandated that police killing must be looked into by an “independent body” with assistance from forensic specialists “unrelated” to the law enforcement organisation where the abuse is claimed to have occurred.
Sources and further readings:
UN Experts Spotlight Devastating Police Brutality in Brazil. (2024, October 10). Human Rights Watch. Retrieved on 27 October 2024. https://www.hrw.org/news/2023/12/15/un-experts-call-brazil-end-brutal-police-violence
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