Police action in “Cracolândia” denounced in the UN

Organizations ask special rapporteurs on health, arbitrary detention, housing and torture to intervene with the São Paulo municipal government

On the afternoon of Tuesday, May 30, civil society organizations submitted an urgent appeal to four UN special rapporteurs – on health, arbitrary detention, housing and torture – asking them to request clarifications from Brazil on the recent police operation in the downtown region of São Paulo known as Cracolândia (Crackland).

Urgent appeals are communications that allow individuals and institutions to directly denounce human rights violations in their countries to the UN. The rapporteurs may accept the appeal and request information from the Brazilian authorities.

The document, drafted by Conectas Human Rights, the Brazilian Drug Policy Platform, Comuda (São Paulo Municipal Council on Drug and Alcohol Policy) and the Black Initiative for a New Drug Policy, also calls on the United Nations to intervene with the São Paulo municipal government, by requesting that the authorities investigate the abuses and hold the perpetrators accountable, halt the forced evictions of residents and end the compulsory confinement of drug users.

According to the organizations, Brazil violated international human rights standards with disproportionate use of force; cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment of drug addicts; forced displacement of the local population; limitations on freedom of movement; lack of adequate health care services; and forced evictions and demolitions without due process.

Click here to read the urgent appeal in full.

On Friday, May 26, the São Paulo state justice system gave preliminary authorization for the search and seizure of “all people in a state of drug dependence”. The authorization was suspended after an appeal was filed jointly by the Public Prosecutor’s Office and the Public Defender’s Office.

“What we are witnessing in the region of Cracolândia is an alarming succession of human rights violations. Since the São Paulo state and municipal governments have ignored all criticisms, Brazil must answer internationally for breaching these obligations,” said Henrique Apolinario, a lawyer for the Justice program at Conectas.

“It is unacceptable and shameful that we keep on using the police, harassment and coercion to deal with what should be a public health issue,” he added.