The National Congress honored, this Wednesday (12), in a solemn session, the four police officers killed during the Operation Containmentwhich took place in the Alemão and Penha complexes, in the city of Rio de Janeiro, on the 28th.
Relatives and friends of military police officers Heber Carvalho da Fonseca and Clei Serafim Gonçalves, and civil police officers Rodrigo Velloso Cabral and Marcus Vinícius Cardoso de Carvalho were present at the tribute, also provided to the governor of Rio de Janeiro, Cláudio Castro, and to the Military and Civil Police of Rio de Janeiro.
One of the authors of the proposal to honor the police officers, the governor and the police forces of Rio de Janeiro was Senator Ciro Nogueira (PP-PI), who said it was necessary to recognize and praise the courage and merits of everyone involved in Operation Containment, the most lethal ever recorded in the country, with 121 deathsincluding those of Fonseca, Gonçalves, Cabral and Carvalho.
Solemn session of the National Congress to honor the government of Rio de Janeiro, the Civil Police, the Military Police and the police officers killed and shot in Operation Containment – Geraldo Magela/Agência Senado
“It is necessary to honor the bravery of the civil and military police officers who risked their lives in the fight against criminal organizations, in defense of the population”, explained Nogueira, declaring that “the war”, “the fight against violence”, is against the criminals “who enslave the people”.
“And this does not mean terrorizing communities, outskirts or suburbs, because we know that more than 90% of the people who live in these communities are innocent, hardworking and our ally”.
For the other author of the request, federal deputy Doutor Luizinho (PP-RJ), Operation Containment represented a “milestone in combating crime and defending public order”. “Today, we are proud of Rio de Janeiro once again being a protagonist that can face, head on, these criminal factions”, boasted the deputy, claiming that it is the duty of the National Congress to “recognize the effort, sacrifice and courage” of police officers across the country who “risk their lives every day”.
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Operation
According to the government of Rio de Janeiro, in addition to the deaths of 117 suspected of involvement in organized crime, The police action resulted in the seizure of 93 rifles and the arrest of 113 accused of facing or trying to escape the police approach. Despite this, only 20 of the 100 judicial arrest warrants that supported the action were carried out.
Appointed as one of the leaders of Comando Vermelho (CV), the main target of the action, Edgar Alves de Andrade, known as Doca, was not found and remains at large. Even so, the governor of Rio de Janeiro, Cláudio Castro, classified the undertaking as “a success” – contradicting human rights organizations, residents’ associations and experts who criticized the initiativepointing it out as ineffective. For Amnesty International, Operation Containment was “disastrous”.
Present at this Wednesday’s formal session, Governor Cláudio Castro once again declared that the only “victims” of Operation Containment were the police officers killed and injured in action. “This is a fair but sad tribute,” said Castro, lamenting the death of the four police officers.
Castro also once again criticized the limits and conditions that the Federal Supreme Court (STF) established for the launch of police operations in needy communities across the country, in the call ADPF of Favelas2020. Proposed in 2019, by the Brazilian Socialist Party (PSB), with the support of several public institutions, entities and social movements, the action of non-compliance with fundamental precepts (ADPF) resulted in the prohibition of police operations in communities in Rio de Janeiro during the health crisis caused by covid-19, except in exceptional cases.
Overt actions in the vicinity of schools and hospitals were also prohibited and the obligation was established for the responsible authorities to notify the Public Prosecutor’s Office in advance and ensure that, at the end of the operations, the agents involved preserve the location to collect traces necessary for the investigation – including possible abuses.
“It took a big operation, [que custou a] lives of four warriors and the blood of nine others [policiais feridos]but Brazil woke up. He realized that there is a clear side”, commented the governor, referring to the results of public opinion polls that indicate the support of a large part of the population for initiatives such as Operation Containment.
