{"id":5502,"date":"2016-05-13T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2016-05-13T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/new.conectas.org.inf.br\/wp\/noticias\/crimes-of-may-10-years-without-answers\/"},"modified":"2021-04-20T18:43:51","modified_gmt":"2021-04-20T18:43:51","slug":"crimes-of-may-10-years-without-answers","status":"publish","type":"noticia","link":"https:\/\/conectas.org\/en\/noticias\/crimes-of-may-10-years-without-answers\/","title":"Crimes of May :: 10 years without answers","content":"

A bloodstained chapter in the history of S\u00e3o Paulo remains unresolved. Ten years after the so-called Crimes of May, there has been a shortage of answers but an excess of negligence on the part of the state authorities and indignation and pain by the families of the hundreds of victims.<\/p>\n

The request filed by<\/a><\/u>\u00a0the Office of the Attorney General this Monday, May 9, with the Superior Court of Justice for the investigations into the Parque Bristol massacre \u2013 just one of many cases of summary executions that occurred between May 12 and 21, 2006 \u2013 to be taken over by the Federal Police is at best overdue, considering that the Office first received the case in 2009. Nevertheless, it could be the first step in the long journey in search of justice.<\/p>\n

Read below about the context in which the Crimes of May took place, the data compiled by leading research institutions that raise serious suspicions of police involvement in the massacres and what the families of the victims and civil society have been doing since then. Also learn about the direct legacy of this bloody episode and what steps could be taken to prevent a repeat of these types of killings.<\/p>\n

\n

Context<\/h3>\n

\"\"The alleged trigger of the conflict between the S\u00e3o Paulo criminal gang known as the PCC (First Capital Command) and the state police was the transfer of 765 prisoners \u2013 including gang leaders \u2013 to a maximum security prison in the inland municipality of Presidente Venceslau.<\/p>\n

In a public show of force, the PCC coordinated a series of prison riots and attacks on police facilities and public buildings. For five days, nearly 300 attacks were staged. Never confirmed rumors of a curfew caused schools and stores to shut their doors across the capital. The streets were deserted. The city came to a standstill.<\/p>\n

\"\"Two days after the first attacks, the news shifted focus. Civilians started being killed by the dozen in what appeared to be summary executions \u2013 most were shot in the back or in the head by masked groups.<\/p>\n

Between May 12 and 21, 2006, a total of 505 civilians were killed and 97 were wounded in shootings in the state of S\u00e3o Paulo. The number of killings was almost four times higher than usual for the period, compared to the previous year. Most of the victims were men up to 35 years of age with no criminal record and residents of neighborhoods in the poor urban outskirts. Over the course of these 10 days, 59 government agents were killed and another 13 were injured.<\/p>\n

The clandestine arm of the State<\/h3>\n

According to the study \u201cAnalysis of the impacts of the PCC attacks in S\u00e3o Paulo in May of 2006\u201d, conducted by the researcher Ign\u00e1cio Cano, of LAV-UERJ (Laboratory for the Analysis of Violence, of Rio de Janeiro State University) at the request of Conectas, there is strong evidence that the civilian killings were retaliation by police for the initial attacks.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of the main findings brought to light by this study is the fact that the series of attacks against the police was concentrated primarily in the first two days. On the other days, we can observe a reaction by the police and masked death squads,\u201d explained Rafael Cust\u00f3dio, coordinator of the Justice program at Conectas. \u201cSeveral other signs also presented in this study indicate a strong possibility that these death squads were formed by police officers, who were most likely seeking revenge for their lost colleagues.\u201d<\/p>\n

>>Read the report by Conectas and LAV-UERJ<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n