STF ministers consider excessive action by Rio’s PM in favela

In a reserved character, ministers of the Federal Supreme Court (STF) consider excessive the action of the Military Police of Rio de Janeiro in the operation carried out in Vila Cruzeiro last Tuesday.

They say that the case needs to be investigated and that it is too early to name culprits. On Thursday (26), Gilmar Mendes, Luiz Fux and Edson Fachin criticized the fact that the STF had been appointed as responsible for the events that took place at the scene. Mendes said this is not the time to “blame blame or scapegoat”.

In 2020, Minister Edson Fachin banned operations in favelas while the Covid-22 pandemic lasted. In February, the court’s plenary issued a series of rules for cases of need for operations of this type.

23 deaths were recorded in Vila Cruzeiro. On Thursday, Fachin and ministers Gilmar Mendes and Luiz Fux, president of the STF, went public to comment on the case.

This Friday (27), Fachin ordered the government of Rio to listen to suggestions from the Public Ministry, the Public Defender’s Office and the Brazilian Bar Association (OAB) on how to reduce deaths in police operations.

In the February decision, the STF plenary stated that the government would have to follow international principles on the use of firearms in operations. Also according to the ministers, weapons could only be used when other means of repression were exhausted.

At another point, the STF determined that all police vehicles and uniforms entering the favelas would have video cameras and GPS trackers. The recordings would then be made available to the Public Ministry.

The court also ruled that searches and seizures entering the homes of favela residents could only be carried out during the day and should be justified and detailed later to a judge, if there were arrests.