STF rules on ADPF 635 regarding police violence in the favelas of Rio de Janeiro

The full panel session of the Supreme Federal Court will be opened for oral arguments this Wednesday, November 13; social movements and civil society will go to Brasília to watch the session

Conjunto de favelas da Maré, na zona norte da cidade do Rio de Janeiro (foto: Douglas Lopes)

This Wednesday (11/13), the Federal Supreme Court (STF) will begin the trial of a fundamental case for the reduction of police brutality in the favelas of Rio de Janeiro. The case in question is the Action for Breach of a Fundamental Precept 635, better known as “ADPF das Favelas” (acronym in Brazilian Portuguese). 

The public lawsuit was filed at the end of 2019 by the Brazilian Socialist Party (PSB, acronym in Brazilian Portuguese), together with several black movements, mothers and family members of victims of police violence, favelas, as well as civil society organizations. Initially inspired by the Maré public civil lawsuit, filed by the Rio de Janeiro Public Defender’s Office for the adoption of protocols meant to reduce police lethality during operations, the ADPF das Favelas seeks the adoption of structural measures that can curtail and reverse public security policies historically guided by racism and violence against black and favela territories.

The trial will begin with the reading of the report by Justice Edson Fachin, who will present the history of the case to the full panel, followed by oral arguments from the parties involved. The vote, however, will be scheduled for a later date. One of the specific characteristics of this lawsuit is the fact that it is the first to have social movements among the amici curiae, an unprecedented fact in the history of the Brazilian judiciary.

Main aspects of the ADPF das Favelas

ADPF 635 addresses one of the most alarming issues in Brazil: the high rate of deaths in police raids in the favelas and outskirts of the city of Rio de Janeiro. The violence, driven by the so-called “War on Drugs”, has left a trail of death, pain and insecurity, directly affecting the most vulnerable populations in these regions.

The requests made in ADPF 635 and unanimously granted by the STF in 2022 include the preparation and implementation, by the State, of an effective Police Lethality Reduction Plan. This request is clearly supported by the ruling of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights in the case Favela Nova Brasília vs. Brazil, which sentenced the Brazilian State to prepare the aforementioned plan.

What can be decided in this trial?

In this trial, the STF can decide on a number of important items, including:

• Transparency and Control Measures: The STF may require the implementation of measures to ensure greater transparency in police raids, confirming the mandatory use of cameras, audio recording devices, as well as the presence of first responders during operations, among other measures already granted during the trial on protective measures in this lawsuit;
• Accountability and Investigation: The justices may determine guidelines for more rigorous investigations into abuses and deaths in police raids, including mandatory independent investigations to avoid impunity, with special attention to the independence of forensic bodies and preservation of the chain of custody of evidence;
• Creation of Alternative Public Policies: The STF can also urge the State to develop alternative and integrated public security policies, with the purpose of reducing violence and opting for preventive actions instead of repressive interventions;
• Protection of Vulnerable Groups: As part of the decision, the STF may include specific measures to protect children, adolescents and other vulnerable groups that are often affected by police violence, including the preservation of school perimeters and the prioritization of investigations in which the victims are children and adolescents;
• The mandatory adoption, by the State of Rio de Janeiro, of an effective plan to reduce police lethality, which includes specific targets for this reduction. The ADPF 635 coalition presented different parameters to the Federal Supreme Court, which would lead to an obligation to reduce lethality by an average of 70%.
• The creation of mechanisms to monitor the plan to reduce police lethality and other policies meant to secure human rights in the favelas, both within the scope of the STF and through an Independent Commission for the Supervision of Police Activity, to be established within the scope of the National Human Rights Council.
• The decision could have far-reaching implications for police work in favelas, setting a new standard for police operations in densely populated areas with a history of violence. A decision in favor of the limitations could mean a restructuring of the public security model, with a greater focus on protecting human rights and reducing police lethality.

The coalition that filed the ADPF das Favelas will hold a demonstration in Brasília

Civil society organizations and social movements that defend human rights are mobilizing themselves in order to closely monitor the STF’s analysis and highlight the importance of this judgment for the implementation of public policies that truly guarantee security and protection for all citizens, especially those who most suffer from state violence.

With this trial, an important step is expected to be taken towards the creation of a new public security model – one that respects human rights and protects the most vulnerable communities, without sacrificing innocent lives in the name of failed security policies.

And even if it is possible to curb the violent and racist logic under which the public security model has historically been operated in Rio de Janeiro and throughout Brazil, if structural changes will only be possible through historically constructed struggles, the ADPF das Favelas constitutes, at the same time, a demand for the granting of constitutionally guaranteed rights to the entire Brazilian population, as a process that discusses and technically guides the viability of building a new model, and as a manifesto for a comprehensive life for the black and favela-dwelling people of Rio and the entire country.

The ADPF das Favelas trial will be a decisive milestone in the fight for the lives and safety of populations from the outskirts, who have been waiting for years for an effective response from the State to end reckless police violence.