Brazilian Army Withdraws From Rio Slums
RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil
Army troops withdrew from Rio's most notorious shantytowns Monday, ending a 10-day operation that used tanks and helicopters in a failed effort to recover weapons stolen from a barracks.
Some 1,600 troops occupied 10 shantytowns, searching for 10 assault rifles and a pistol, stolen March 3 by gunmen wearing army-issue camouflage gear and ninja masks.
In the downtown Providencia shantytown where drug gangs battled the soldiers during the occupation, residents cheered as the 300 troops occupying the hillside slum began to leave. The drug gangs set off fireworks to celebrate the withdrawal.
The troops left because their authorization to search for the weapons had expired, an army statement said. None of the weapons was recovered.
State Security Secretary Marcelo Itagiba said the withdrawal only ended the first phase of the operation to strangle drug-dealing operations by confiscating their weapons. He said the army would now concentrate on precise searches using police information.
The operation began with soldiers and police agents — backed by helicopters, armored carriers and tanks — swooping down on the shantytowns.
Drug gangs fired back and lobbed grenades in the Providencia Hill slum, which overlooks the parade grounds of Rio's world-famous Carnival parade.
A 16-year-old boy was killed by a stray bullet March 6, in a shootout and four bystanders were wounded on Friday.
Prosecutors called the operation unconstitutional and unsuccessfully sought an injunction to halt it.
An online survey conducted by the O Globo news agency showed that 89 percent of readers supported the army's continued occupation of the shantytowns.
Rio is one of the world's most violent cities, with an annual homicide rate of nearly 50 per 100,000 people. Most of the violence is confined to the city's shantytowns, often controlled by the drug gangs, and poor outskirts.
Amnesty International on Monday urged an end to police use of six-wheeled armored personnel carriers in shantytowns, saying they promote indiscriminate killing.
The vehicle, known as the "caveirao" or big skull, is painted black and emblazoned with a skull impaled on a sword, the emblem of Rio's special operations police.
"By deploying a vehicle to aggressively and indiscriminately target whole communities, the authorities are using the caveirao as a tool of intimidation," said Tim Cahill, Amnesty International's researcher on Brazil.
The state security department defended the use of the vehicles.
"The caveirao is to protect the population, to protect police. It is not used against residents of the shantytowns," said Mario da Silveira, a department press officer.
Local human rights groups claim the caveirao was involved in 11 killings between May and September 2005.
Army troops withdrew from Rio's most notorious shantytowns Monday, ending a 10-day operation that used tanks and helicopters in a failed effort to recover weapons stolen from a barracks.
Some 1,600 troops occupied 10 shantytowns, searching for 10 assault rifles and a pistol, stolen March 3 by gunmen wearing army-issue camouflage gear and ninja masks.
In the downtown Providencia shantytown where drug gangs battled the soldiers during the occupation, residents cheered as the 300 troops occupying the hillside slum began to leave. The drug gangs set off fireworks to celebrate the withdrawal.
The troops left because their authorization to search for the weapons had expired, an army statement said. None of the weapons was recovered.
State Security Secretary Marcelo Itagiba said the withdrawal only ended the first phase of the operation to strangle drug-dealing operations by confiscating their weapons. He said the army would now concentrate on precise searches using police information.
The operation began with soldiers and police agents — backed by helicopters, armored carriers and tanks — swooping down on the shantytowns.
Drug gangs fired back and lobbed grenades in the Providencia Hill slum, which overlooks the parade grounds of Rio's world-famous Carnival parade.
A 16-year-old boy was killed by a stray bullet March 6, in a shootout and four bystanders were wounded on Friday.
Prosecutors called the operation unconstitutional and unsuccessfully sought an injunction to halt it.
An online survey conducted by the O Globo news agency showed that 89 percent of readers supported the army's continued occupation of the shantytowns.
Rio is one of the world's most violent cities, with an annual homicide rate of nearly 50 per 100,000 people. Most of the violence is confined to the city's shantytowns, often controlled by the drug gangs, and poor outskirts.
Amnesty International on Monday urged an end to police use of six-wheeled armored personnel carriers in shantytowns, saying they promote indiscriminate killing.
The vehicle, known as the "caveirao" or big skull, is painted black and emblazoned with a skull impaled on a sword, the emblem of Rio's special operations police.
"By deploying a vehicle to aggressively and indiscriminately target whole communities, the authorities are using the caveirao as a tool of intimidation," said Tim Cahill, Amnesty International's researcher on Brazil.
The state security department defended the use of the vehicles.
"The caveirao is to protect the population, to protect police. It is not used against residents of the shantytowns," said Mario da Silveira, a department press officer.
Local human rights groups claim the caveirao was involved in 11 killings between May and September 2005.
posted by Alice at
Tuesday, March 14, 2006
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