MARCH 31, 2017 4:39PM EDT Dispatches
Police Abuses Fuel the Cycle of Violence in Brazil
A police officer walks up to a man lying on the ground, reaches down, and picks up what appears to be an assault rifle beside the man. As the man looks up, the officer shoots him. The camera pans to follow another police officer, approaching a second man on the ground. He shoots him, and keeps walking.
The executions occurred just outside the wall of the Daniel Piza Municipal School in Rio de Janeiro on March 30.
Maria Eduarda Alves da Conceição, a 13-year-old student who was in gym class, was also killed. Her uncle told reporters she was shot three times when police opened fire on the two suspects from across the Acari River, which runs in front of the school.
Rios military police commander said the video revealed blatant illegal actions. But the commanders own spokesperson was less clear. Police officers need to be able to flip a switch in their minds, at times being defenders of rights and at times being warriors, because there is a real war, he said.
More:
https://www.hrw.org/news/2017/03/31/video-shows-rio-police-executing-two-men