{"id":5961,"date":"2017-02-20T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2017-02-20T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/new.conectas.org.inf.br\/wp\/noticias\/victims-and-torturers\/"},"modified":"2021-04-07T18:07:03","modified_gmt":"2021-04-07T18:07:03","slug":"victims-and-torturers","status":"publish","type":"noticia","link":"https:\/\/conectas.org\/en\/noticias\/victims-and-torturers\/","title":"Victims and torturers","content":"

\u201cThey said there was no problem beating me because it wouldn\u2019t leave a mark,\u201d says E.A.D., aged 23, to the judge at the Criminal Courthouse of Barra Funda, referring to his black skin. Both he and P.S.A.S. were arrested and charged with robbery in downtown S\u00e3o Paulo. They both deny the charges. According to E.A.D., all he did was pick up a public transport ticket he found on the ground.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey pointed a machine gun at his face. They cocked a pistol against me here [pointing to his stomach],\u201d he says. \u201cWould you be able to identify the officers?\u201d asks the judge. \u201cI\u2019m not afraid. I know they\u2019ll retaliate against me. But I can [identify them].\u201d<\/p>\n

The judge sends the two men to the Forensic Medical Institute for a physical examination and refers the case for analysis by DIPO 5 – Criminal Investigation and Auxiliary Services Division, which is responsible for receiving and processing cases of police violence.<\/p>\n

At the request of the prosecutor, who does not ask a single question about the aggression suffered by the two men, the arrest is converted into pre-trial detention.<\/p>\n

The case of E.A.D. and P.S.A.S. accurately represents the profile of the people included in the research \u201cShielded Torture\u201d. The analysis of 393 cases in which there were reports or signs of torture or mistreatment in the custody hearings leads to the conclusion that the preferred victims of violence during arrests are black men charged with robbery and that the main perpetrators are military police officers.<\/p>\n

According to the testimonies collected for the study, the primary motivation for the aggression is to secure a confession and, in general, the violence occurs at the same place as the arrest.<\/p>\n

According to the lawyer Sylvia Dias, a delegate of the Association for the Prevention of Torture in Brazil and a reviewer of the \u201cShielded Torture\u201d study, the profile of the torture victims is similar to the profile of detainees in the Brazilian prison system.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnother aspect that is particularly alarming is the naturalization by the detainees themselves of the torture and mistreatment they suffer at the time of their arrest. It is shocking to see that a large number of Brazilian citizens, after being subjected to violence on a daily basis at the hands of the police, end up \u2018normalizing\u2019 acts of physical and psychological violence as if it were acceptable and inevitable,\u201d she said. \u201cObviously, this naturalization and their unawareness that their rights and their integrity are being violated leads to underreporting,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n

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