The Human Rights Commission of the Chamber of Deputies will request that a federal investigation be opened to investigate the circumstances of the mega police operation that left at least 121 people dead in Rio de Janeiro. According to the president of the Commission, Reimont (PT-RJ), an independent expertise, which is not linked to the state government, is necessary for more transparency. 
“We are facing a State crime. It was the State who killed these young people, regardless of whether they are committed to crime or not, they are human beings and in Brazil there is no death penalty. So, the State cannot have the entire process and carry out all the investigations. We are going to ask for a federal expertise”, he stated.
Representative Otoni de Paula (MDB-RJ), who is also a member of the commission, also defended the federalization of investigations.
“It was a disastrous operation, which unfortunately seems to have a very strong political nature, and now our obligation, at the Human Rights Commission, is to ensure that light is shed on all these investigations. As much as I respect our Civil Police, at this point we will need an independent expert. I think that the Federal Police should enter into this process, as an independent police force”, he defended.
A similar request was also made by the Special Commission on Favelas and Peripheries of the Legislative Assembly of Rio de Janeiro. The president of the Commission, Renata Souza (PSOL) filed a representation requesting the transfer of jurisdiction to the Attorney General’s Office.
In addition to calling for the federalization of investigations and judicial processing related to Operation Containment, the document also demands that the PGR determine the preservation of all expert traces and audiovisual records.
“What we witnessed on October 28th was not a public security operation, but rather a massacre, a slaughter, which brutally violated the most fundamental rights of the favela population. The response of the state authorities, both in conducting the operation and in subsequent statements, is unacceptable and demonstrates the urgent need for an external and impartial intervention. People’s lives, the integrity of the evidence and the credibility of the institutions are at stake”, declared the deputy.
