2 June 2006 – A Special Independent Commission has been created to investigate alleged death squad killings in the aftermath of the organized crime attacks in São Paulo. Composed of government and human rights representatives, it will investigate the killings of civilians and police officers in the week that followed the attacks coordinated by the PCC in São Paulo.
At least 34 people with no criminal records were executed by extermination groups between the 12th and 19th of May, most of the victims were aged between 15 and 25. A preliminary report by the Public Attorney’s Office shows that 11 victims killed in unknown circumstances were shot in the back or the head.
The 34 victims were not accounted for in the list of 122 dead civilians officially put forward by the Office of Public Security after the PCC attacks.
On Monday the 29th, members of the Special Independent Commission met with authorities, witnesses and members of the Human Rights Commission and the Guarulhos Center for Human Rights. Guarulhos, in the greater São Paulo area, has a history of death squad actions prior to 2004.
“Guarulhos is the most serious case we have in our hands, due to the number of cases and its history”, said Ariel de Castro Alves, human rights lawyer and member of the Commission.
Balaclavas
Police Ombudsman has sent the Public Ministry documents and witness statements concerning 13 possible cases of death squad killings. It is suspected that policemen may be involved in death squad killings in both the city of São Paulo and in the interior of the State.
Among the cases under investigation is the killing of 5 youths in São Mateus, in the Zona Leste region of São Paulo. The youths were killed a few hours after the murder of soldier José Eduardo de Souza, on the 14th. According to witnesses the victims were shot soon after a mock police search staged by the killers.
São Paulo Police Ombudsman Antonio Funari Filho has asked his counterparts in the Military and Civil Police to open inquiries into their corporations over the alleged executions.
“The problem is that we are dealing with homicides committed by unknown authors and statements that describe killers wearing balaclavas. It is hard to distinguish regular crime from the PCC attacks. There is however, strong suspicion of police involvement, said Funari Filho.
Le Cocq
According to a survey carried out in 1991 in Brazil, 27% of police officers said they had been invited to take part in a death squad action at some point of their careers. In 1996, according to a survey in Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo, 76% of the interviewees said they believed in the existence of death squads made up of police officers.
(Click to read the Inter American Human Rights Commission on Brazilian death squads active in Brazil in 1997)
On the 17th of May, Brazilian newspapers published photos of six men wearing t-shirts with inscriptions that translate as ‘Detective Le Cocq Death Squad, Brazil’. The men were photographed at a hearing held at the São Paulo City Legislative Assembly the previous day. No investigations have been made so far.
Sources: Agência Estado, O Globo, Movimento Nacional de Direitos Humanos
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