Rio governor confirms plans for shoot-to-kill policing policy

Activists and experts expressed outrage after Wilson Witzel said security forces were authorized to use lethal force

Anna Jean Kaiser in Rio de Janeiro
Fri 4 Jan 2019 17.31 GMT

Human rights activists and public security experts have expressed outrage after the newly-elected governor of Rio de Janeiro state confirmed plans to implement shoot-to-kill policing tactics in the crime-ridden region.

Wilson Witzel, a former federal judge who unexpectedly won the governorship in October, said in radio interview on Thursday that Rio security forces were authorized to use lethal force against suspects.

Later on the same day, he said that Rio needs its own version of Guantánamo Bay prison camp to free society of criminals who he described as “terrorists”.

Witzel came to office on the wave of far-right, tough-on-crime rhetoric unleashed by Jair Bolsonaro. The president, who took office on Monday, has often defended giving a carte blanche to security forces and pledged to deploy the military on the streets of Brazilian cities if congress and governors gave him permission.

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