The Supreme Court of Brazil ordered the governor of Rio de Janeiro to provide explanations about the deadliest police operation in its history

He Judge Alexandre de Moraesmagistrate of the Supreme Federal Court (STF) of Brazil, ordered this Wednesday that the governor of Rio de JaneiroCláudio Castro, appear on November 3 to provide explanations about the recent police operation directed against one of the main criminal organizations in the country, the Red Command.

The police intervention, carried out in the poor neighborhoods of German y Penhahas left according to different sources between 119 and 132 fatalitiesbecoming the deadliest raid recorded in Brazil’s recent history. The balance of the events, as well as the institutional and social response, have generated intense concern both nationally and internationally about the use of force, respect for human rights and the transparency of the procedures applied.

The hearing, which will take place in Rio de Janeiro, was scheduled for analyze the details of the so-called “Operation Containment”, including the level of force used, the number of troops involved, the detailed report of victims, as well as the measures adopted to assist those affected, as detailed Brazil Agency.

This requirement is framed in a previous ruling by the STF, which established strict rules for police raids in favelas.with the goal of preventing human rights violations during operations of this type. The STF seeks determine exactly whether the state government complied with the protocols and whether the intervention complied with the guidelines issued by the court.

Throughout the day, the Public Defender’s Office of Rio de Janeiro counted at least 132 deaths as a result of the large-scale operation, a figure that includes civilians and, among them, four police officers. On the other hand, the State Police maintains its estimate at 119 deaths and has reported 113 people arrested, including 10 teenagers. 91 rifles and an unspecified amount of drugs were also confiscated, according to statements by Governor Castro. So far, neither the quantity nor the type of seized substances have been officially specified.

According to Judge De Moraes, the request for clarifications covers both the official number of dead and injured as well as the procedures deployed during the raid and the assistance provided to the victims. The STF’s decision is aligned with a growing concern about compliance with international human rights standards.

The Secretary General of the UN, António Guterrestransmitted through its spokesperson, Stéphane Dujarric, its “deep concern about the high number of fatalities that occurred yesterday during the police operation in the favelas” and recalled that “the use of force in police operations must comply with International Human Rights Law and international standards.” In addition, he urged Brazilian authorities to begin an immediate investigation into what happened.

This operation surpassed the lethality record established by the Carandiru massacre in 1992, in which there were 111 deaths. The most violent interventions in favelas in Rio de Janeiro occurred in 2021 and 2022, in the communities of Jacarezinho and Vila Cruzeiro, with 28 and 25 deaths respectively; all during the Castro administration.

The main objective of the recent operation was weaken the Red Command, a criminal group that has expanded significantly in the last decade and whose influence has displaced the parapolice militias in the city’s territories, according to official sources. Security forces entered the favela complexes of German y Penha —considered strongholds of the group— to carry out arrests and dismantle criminal infrastructures. Among those detained, local media suggest that one would be Thiago “Belão” do Nascimento Mendes, identified as a close collaborator of “Doca” Alves de Andrade, alleged regional leader of the Red Command, although the latter managed to escape.

However, the majority of those killed and detained remain to be identified, which makes it impossible to know to what extent the organization has suffered damage to its hierarchical structure. The opacity in the disclosure of identities has been the subject of questioning by civil society and human rights organizations, which also denounced the alleged existence of “executions” very summary during the intervention.

The Minister of Justice of Brazil, Ricardo Lewandowski, questioned the legality of the police action and affirmed that President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva was “terrified” by the high number of victims and “surprised” by the absence of prior communication about the operationexecuted entirely under the orbit of the state government headed by Castro, an ally of former president Jair Bolsonaro. Lewandowski reiterated that the federal administration was not informed until after the events.

Concern about possible outbreaks of violence persists in the population of Rio de Janeiro while waiting for the opening of the judicial investigation and the eventual definition of responsibilities. Neighbors of the affected communities and the Brazilian prosecutor’s office demand greater transparency to clarify whether the police deployment complied with national and international regulations. The crisis exposes the conflict between citizen security and the legal limits for state interventions, with repercussions that reach both fundamental rights and public security policies in Brazil.

(With information from AFP, EFE and EP)