Police in Rio de Janeiro are killing more people now than in the past 20 years. A new bill may increase the violence
JAIR BOLSONARO, Brazil’s populist president, was elected on a promise to crack down on crime. He can claim at least one victory. In the first five months of this year, which were also his first five in office, violent deaths in the country—including those from homicides, assaults and robberies—were 22% lower than in the same period in 2018. But Mr Bolsonaro, who has said that “a good criminal is a dead criminal”, has also talked up the use of lethal force to deter crime.
This toll has been climbing since long before Mr Bolsonaro came to power. In 2015 there was a brief decline in violence brought about by a police strategy that sought to reduce crime in the favelas through a combination of saturation policing and social-assistance programmes. After the Rio Olympics in 2016, and with Brazil in the throes of a record recession, public resources dried up. Drug gangs in the favelas and militia groups led by rogue ex-police regained ground.
Under a proposed anti-crime bill, killings could rise further. The legislation, which is being pushed through congress by Sérgio Moro, Brazil’s justice minister, would expand the, an article in the country’s criminal code which permits actions normally considered crimes to go unpunished, such as killing in self-defence. Advocates of the bill say it would allow police and civilians to go after criminals without fear of prosecution. Critics fear an escalation of violence.
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