Deputies from the Psol-Rede and PT-PCdoB-PV federations criticized this Wednesday (29) the Operation Containmentcarried out by the Rio de Janeiro police in the Alemão and Penha complexes. The main focus was on the leadership of Comando Vermelho, but more than 100 people were killed. 
At a press conference in the Chamber of Deputies, parliamentarians accused the Rio de Janeiro government of promoting a “slaughter” and demanded changes to the state’s public security policy.
The president of the Chamber’s Human Rights Commission, deputy Reimont (PT-RJ), said that the operation could have left more than 200 people dead.
“It is the biggest massacre in Brazil, surpassing that of Carandiru”, he declared.
For him, it is “a continuous massacre”, which is repeated in different police actions.
The leader of Psol, deputy Talíria Petrone (Psol-RJ), stated that the operation demonstrates a “lack of planning” and criticized the confrontation model adopted by the state government.
“What has been done to confront criminal organizations is a bloodbath. We have been draining blood for decades, and families continue to be destroyed by a model of public security adopted by Governor Cláudio Castro, who is incompetent and cowardly,” he said.
Representative Lindbergh Farias (PT-RJ) highlighted that the action was “the most lethal in the history of Rio de Janeiro” and defended the approval of the Security PEC as an alternative to “guarantee a security policy with intelligence, citizenship and effectiveness”.
“Governor Cláudio Castro insists on a failed model, which instead of privileging intelligence and integration, prefers war operations”, says the parliamentarian, who is deputy leader of the government in the National Congress.
Representative Jandira Feghali (PCdoB-RJ) also criticized the state government’s actions.
“Cláudio Castro’s security policy is the policy of slaughter. A government that transforms fear and death into an electoral platform. Rio needs intelligence and planning, not operations carried out by the people themselves”, he stated.
Representative Otoni de Paula (MDB-RJ) said, in a speech in the plenary, that four young people, children of members of the Ministry of Life Mission Church, were among the dead. Pastor and founder of the church, the deputy said they were not involved in organized crime.
“Boys who have never carried rifles, but are being counted in the package as if they were criminals. And do you know who will know if they are criminals or not? Never [vão saber]no one goes after it, because black people running during an operation in the favela are criminals”, he stated.
Members of the Human Rights Commission are expected to visit Complexo do Alemão, the Medical-Legal Institute (IML), the Rio de Janeiro Public Defender’s Office and the state Attorney General’s Office this Thursday (30) to monitor the investigations and hear from the victims’ families.
Defenses
Parliamentarians from right-wing parties defended the action of Rio’s security forces. For deputy Rodrigo Valadares (União-SE), the operation was necessary to contain violence and the spread of organized crime.
“These criminals have no respect for the law, nor for life. The Rio police did what needed to be done to guarantee the safety of the law-abiding population,” he declared.
Deputy Delegado Caveira (PL-PA) also supported police action and criticized the opposing demonstrations.
“It’s easy to condemn the police from inside the air conditioning. At the end, those who face drug trafficking risk their lives every day. There is no massacre, there is legitimate defense of society against crime”, he stated.
In the same vein, deputy Sergeant Gonçalves (PL-RN) said that the operation was the result of “planning and courage”.
“The police acted based on intelligence information. What we cannot accept is that armed bandits control territories and frighten entire communities.”
Federal deputy and pastor Otoni de Paula (MDB-RJ) classified the massacre as “spectacular theater” and said that young people from the church, unrelated to the crime, were among the dead.
“Four police officers fell. More than a hundred people died. And the State? It continues with its arms crossed, indifferent, treating the tragedy as a headline. But the real power of crime is not in the favela, it is in dirty money, laundered in banks, fuel, gold and million-dollar businesses”, he highlighted.
“Rio doesn’t need acting. Rio needs strategy, intelligence and courage to face those who really profit from chaos.”
Torture
Family members and community leaders interviewed by Agência Brasil say that Operation Containment was marked by executions and torture.
To prevent the suspects from escaping, the police strategy would have been to invade the communities and set up “a wall” with agents from the Special Operations Battalion (BOPE), blocking their escape through the forest that surrounds the two communities.
According to reports, the most violent confrontation took place there, with signs of torture and execution of dozens of bodies rescued and disposed of this morning in front of the community association, in Praça São Lucas, in the town known as Vila Cruzeiro.
*With information from Agência Câmara
