{"id":5340,"date":"2016-01-05T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2016-01-05T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/new.conectas.org.inf.br\/wp\/noticias\/partial-victory\/"},"modified":"2021-03-22T18:17:29","modified_gmt":"2021-03-22T18:17:29","slug":"partial-victory","status":"publish","type":"noticia","link":"https:\/\/conectas.org\/en\/noticias\/partial-victory\/","title":"Partial victory","content":"

Brazil has taken a big step towards putting an end to the \u2018resistance\u2019 classification in police reports \u2013 used to record killings by police officers and that are frequently used to cover up executions, since these deaths are never investigated.<\/p>\n

In addition to banning the use of the classification created during the military dictatorship, the joint resolution<\/u><\/a> of the Higher Police Council, a body of the Federal Police, and the National Council of Civil Police Chiefs published in the Federal Gazette this Monday, January 4, establishes the procedures to be followed in cases of deaths or bodily injury caused by police officers.<\/p>\n

According to the text of the resolution, \u201cif the use of [police] force results in an assault on the bodily integrity or the life of the person resisting, a police inquiry must be immediately opened to determine the facts, and it shall be given priority status\u201d. It also states that the Public Prosecutor\u2019s Office and the Public Defender\u2019s Office must be notified of the inquiry.\u00a0Moreover, weapons, bullet cases and vehicles involved in the incident must also be seized by the police officer responsible for the investigation, who must also order a forensic examination of the scene.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe resolution represents a step forward in putting a stop to a standard police procedure that constitutes a real \u201cdeath sentence\u201d in the poor urban outskirts, particularly against black youths,\u201d said Vivian Calderoni, a lawyer for the Justice program at Conectas. \u201cHowever, we note with concern that, in its language, the resolution still promotes the mindset of the State of treating citizens as the enemy.\u00a0 By using the term \u2018bodily injury resulting from opposition to police intervention\u2019 or \u2018homicide resulting from opposition to police intervention\u2019, the State assumes that there was resistance. This could preserve the mentality of covering up executions,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n

Still, explained Calderoni, the political message conveyed by the civil police chiefs in all Brazil\u2019s states is that these cases need to be investigated, which is a significant breakthrough. But the resolution could have made more progress if it had required the proper isolation of the crime scene, an omission that will compromise its effectiveness.<\/p>\n

As far as Conectas is concerned, to definitively put a stop to executions by the police, three measures are urgently needed:<\/p>\n

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