URGENT APPEAL *** ONGOING KILLINGS ***

Transcription

1 URGENT APPEAL *** ONGOING KILLINGS *** ON THE HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS AS A CONSEQUENCE OF THE COMPLETE HALT OF POLICE IN THE STATE OF ESPÍRITO SANTO January 08 th, 2017 To the following United Nations Special Procedures - Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions - Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association - Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment Summary: A deadlock in negotiations between military police officers and the government of the Espírito Santo State (ES) for better salaries has resulted in a total disruption of policing services, as all of the officers suddenly stoped working, amounting to a partial account of 90 deaths, innumerous cases of stealing, looting, thereby installing a generalized panicking situation in the capital city, Vitória, as well as in other major cities, such as Vila Velha, Cachoeiro do Itapemirim, and Guarapari. All that in a four days spam. Essential public services, such as schools, public transportation, courts, as well as commerce were shut, given the chaotic situation in which that State is subjected now. Very insufficient and inadequate measures have been taken so far, such as sending army troops to patrol the streets and the call of the National Security Force. The authorities had responded to the

2 chaos with a total lack of dialogue, denying the start of negotiations until the policemen return to work. The Military Prosecutor had ordered the use of force against the policemen who refuse going back to work. These policemen, in turn have occupied the military police headquarters and assuming the leadership themselves of the protest. The undersigned organizations hereby present an urgent appeal to the UN Special Procedures regarding human rights violations due to the lack of competence of the local government to provide basic public security services and guarantee the bodily integrity and life of the state s population. Contact Persons: Juana Kweitel, Executive Director Conectas Human Rights juana.kweitel@conectas.org Henrique Souza, Justice Program Officer Conectas Human Rights henrique.souza@conectas.org The Protest for Better Salaries and Working Conditions 1 Given the prohibition to the military personnel to engage in strikes per se, the wives and partners of low patent military police officers of the Espírito Santo State (PMES), decided to 2 protest in front of the relevant headquarters, in order to impede that the police forces exit to patrol the streets. As a result, the local population got alarmed, as news, audios and videos proliferated via social media. The population at large remains sieged in their homes, counting on the available food stocks and other living materials. The State authorities, in particular the Security Secretary, took a hard stance by not engaging 1 Federal Constitutionm article 42, 1º, article 142, 3º, IV. 2 e-destacamento-da-serra.html

3 in dialogue to a prompt resolve of the situation, unless the police officers returned to work, threatening to criminally persecute all involved. The State governor was absent and allegedly had not formalized the passing over to his vice-governor, thus leaving a power vacuum. Given the unsolved deadlock, chaos took over the cities of Vitória, Cachoeiro do Itampemirim and Guarapari (the ones evidence could be gathered). Public services, like schools, the townhouse, the courthouse, public transportation were shut; as well as the general commerce, services, shopping malls, as criminal gangs have taken over the streets. There are reports that militia and similar criminal groups are seizing the advantage of the total lack of patrolling to conduct vendetta, collect debts by force and attack opposing groups. The Civil State Police in Vitória, the state s capital (PC), in charge of investigations and forensics, decided to shut the public morgue, in view of the impossibility to receive and deal 3 with the coming corpses and the precarious conditions of the police facilities. The morgue has a space for 30 bodies, but the average number of homicides per day since Saturday has been at around 25. There are reports of cadavers being left on the streets of the main cities. Forensic exams are sparse, as crime scenes are unreachable without proper police cover. Other crimes, such as rape, stealing, looting, remain so far impossible to be accounted, given the impossibility for the PC to proceed with a more accurate assessment in such chaotic circumstances. In short, the State authorities have lost control of the public security by choosing to take a hard stance in the negotiations with the police officers, who are left without a raise for over 3 preensivas-aguardam-liberacao-de-corpos-em-dml-superlotado.html

4 6 years, in a period in which the cumulative inflation of living costs is of around 50%. Re-emergence of Paramilitary Groups This extreme situation gave an opportunistic rise to manifestations by paramilitary groups. An audio attributed to the Scuderie Le Cocq ( the Death Squad ) that was officially dissolved by the judicial authorities in 2004, declared that the group would ravage the metropolitan region of Vitória, by perpetrating a series of extrajudicial killings against supposed criminals. The audio repeats the motto a good criminal is a dead criminal, very much appreciated by extreme-right politicians and the like-minded civilians. Measures at the Federal Level At the request of the vice-governor, the Ministry of Justice authorized the deployment of the army troops from the Vila Velha Battalion to patrol the streets. These forces were deployed on the 6 Feb late afternoon, in a very small amount of around 200 men. The vice-governor also, on the 6 Feb. 2017, requested the Presidency of the Republic to deploy the Special Security Force, a hybrid unit that intervenes in cases of emergency. This unit has arrived in the late afternoon of the 7 Feb These provided a mere psychological relief as bodies continue to stack and basic services remain halted. In any case, such measures cannot by any means be said to return the ES state to normality. They lack the specific training and approaches to deal with ostensive patrolling, raising serious question on the compliance with human rights standards. Further, the authorities have been offered the deployment of such forces as a sign of strength, under this truly chaotic scenario, rather than reaching out to the different social actors involved in order to tailor together a sustainable solution for the public security crisis. The ES State itself had

5 witnessed incidences of troops under this unit acting in a climate of revenge towards protests held in Overall in Brazil, they have been proven intolerant to social protests, and violent with civilians, as there are no accessible accountability bodies, such as public prosecutors, that would receive complaints and keep the federal ostensive forces in check. Further Aggravation of the Conflict by the State Military Prosecution As a reaction to this deadlock, the Military Prosecutor of the ES State has motu proprio issued on the 7 Feb an unusual notification setting to the officers and families protesting a deadline of 4 hours for the de facto strike to be discontinued, and authorizing their hierarchy superior officers to make use of all means, including force, to force the officers back to work. This measure fuelled further the impasse and divided the protest, without solving the problem. Such a notification raises serious questions on its legality and competence of the Prosecutor for such matters. Frustrated Initial Negotiations In the early evening of 7 Feb. 2017, in the view of the uncontrolled calamity at place, the State Secretary of Security has presented a preliminary statement of opening of negotiations, signed by him and a small number of wives and partners of the police officers. However, this positive sign was followed few hours later by audio recordings disseminated, allegedly by PMs in de facto strike, dismissing a commitment of engaging in the said dialogue and affirming to take over the protests themselves, instead of their wives and partners. Until now, there are no signs that the negotiations have resulted in the normalizations of the police service, on the one hand, and on meeting the demands of the protesters. Furthermore, the Civil Police will conduct a general assembly this next Thursday, the 9 th, deciding if

6 theyshould also go on strike. The death of an on duty Civil Police Officer intervening in a gun robbery on the night of the 7 th has further escalated things. 4 The Rights Involved The Right to Life: Article 6 ICCPR provides for that: 1. Every human being has the inherent right to life. This right shall be protected by law. No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his life. The chaotic scenario herein presented has so far accounted preliminary for 85 deaths, with around 25 to 30 new bodies every day. Thought it cannot be established that the State agents directly killed these individuals, state responsibility in the case may be raised to the extent that the authorities did not take the necessary positive obligations to protect the right to life of those persons. Neither can be said of any effective investigation. Admittedly, state responsibility is engaged only in cases in which the authorities knew or should have known of a given violation. However, given the high likelihood that a total disruption of policing services for a State population of around 4 million inhabitants, it could be reasonably presumed that a significant number of deaths would occur. Further, both State and country have historical patterns of extrajudicial killings by death squads and militias, including with instances of State complicity. The paramilitary group 4 -tenta-evitar-assalto-e-morre-no-interior-do-es.htm

7 Scuderie Le Cocq (death squad) had run unpunished in the ES State in the last decade as noted by the UN Rapporteur on Extrajudicial Executions in her visit to that State (2003). On the occasion, the Rapporteur emphasized: 45. The situation in the coastal State of Espirito Santo is a particularly striking example of penetration of death squad activities into the highest levels of the legislative, judicial and executive branches of a state. In 1964, Scuderie Detetive Le Cocq ( Shield of Detective le Cocq, or SDLC), was founded in honour of a murdered detective. By early 1990s the organization had more than 3,800 members, composed mainly of members of the civil and military police. It was known to operate freely, engaging in death-squad activity as well as organized crime and carrying out a terror campaign affecting all segments of society. The Special Rapporteur is aware that over the last 10 years several investigations of these death squads have been carried out, notably by a special commission made of public prosecutors, civil and military police, which concluded that in addition to police officers, SDLC included politicians, businessmen, various Government officials, lawyers, judges, members of the Public Prosecutor s Office and hired 5 gunmen. Owing to this record of a pattern of extrajudicial executions, the Brazilian State assumes the risk of giving space for these groups to emerge once more. Although the Federal Government has already dispatched federal troops, it has not taken any measures to ensure the killing will be properly investigated. Similar incidents, such as the 6 mass killings of May 2006 in São Paulo are still currently unsolved, with the decision to bring the case to federal investigation still pending in the Superior Court of Justice. The State of Brazil has a Federal Police team designed to investigate mass violations of human rights, specifically death squads and vigilantes, but they have not been deployed due to lack of 5 E/CN.4/2004/7/Add.3, para s

8 political will; the governor of Esprito Santo is a political ally of the new President. Conclusions The undersigned organizations hereby present an urgent appeal to the UN Special Procedures regarding ongoing human rights violations in Espirito Santo, Brazil, due to the complete halt in police work in that state. During the de facto strike, mobs have looted local commerce and violence has quickly ran rampant. More urgently, there has been an alarming rate of homicides each day, of around 30 new bodies in a population of roughly 4 million, as gang conflicts erupt and, alarmingly, death squads and vigilante groups are apparently conducting vendetta mass murders and cleansing the streets of anyone suspicious. At the same time, severely outnumbered army and federal intervention troops were irresponsibly pushed into a situation of extreme instability, possibly leading to more deaths and violence by agents of state, without proper mechanisms of accountability and complaints. The petitioners herewith request the above-mentioned UN human rights mandates to urge the Brazilian state: to provide the UN Special Procedures with information on the situation on the ground and the human rights implications of the halted negotiations with police officers; 1. to comply with its human rights obligations in relation to the providing of basic public security services;to comply with international obligations regarding the immediate and effective investigation of the numerous homicides being reported and the alleged lack of capabilities of local forensic authorities to execute their services;

9 Signatures The present urgent appeal is submitted by the following organizations: Comissão de Justiça e Paz da Arquidiocese de Vitória Conectas Human Rights