🔗 Share this article

The eyewitness

An eyewitness who documented the aftermath of a large-scale law enforcement action in Rio de Janeiro has recounted how local people came back with mutilated bodies of the deceased individuals.

The bodies "continued arriving: the numbers kept rising", the eyewitness stated. The total contained law enforcement personnel.

One individual was discovered headless - while others appeared "severely damaged", he explained. Many also had evidence of knife injuries.

In excess of 120 victims were fatally injured during Tuesday's raid targeting an illegal organization - the bloodiest action the municipality has seen.

The eyewitness stated that he initially learned concerning the action Tuesday morning by residents living in Alemão, who sent him messages informing him gunfire had erupted.

The reporter made his way to a local medical facility, where the victims were arriving.

The photographer stated that security forces stopped members of the press from going into the operation zone, where the police action were taking place.

"Security forces established a perimeter and said: 'Journalists doesn't get past here'."

But Itan, who grew up in that neighborhood, reported he succeeded to gain access into the restricted zone, where he continued through the night.

He described during the night, local residents commenced searching the mountainous area that borders the community of Penha and the nearby Alemão neighbourhood for family members who had been missing after the operation.

Local people from the Penha area arranged the discovered victims in a public space - the photographer's images show the response of those present.

"The brutality of the situation shook me deeply: the grief of loved ones, parents losing consciousness, expectant spouses, crying, outraged parents," the eyewitness remembered.

The eyewitness

The state leader of the region announced that the massive police operation with approximately 2,500 security personnel was aimed at halting a gang referred to as Comando Vermelho from growing their influence.

Initially, the Rio state government claimed that sixty alleged criminals and four police officers" had been killed in the raid.

They have since said that early calculations shows that 117 alleged criminals lost their lives.

Rio's public defender's office, that offers legal help to low-income residents, has calculated the total number of casualties at 132.

Per investigative findings, the gang represents the unique criminal entity that in the past few years has been able to expand its territory in the state of Rio de Janeiro.

Experts commonly view among the biggest criminal organizations in the country, together with a rival criminal group, and has a history dating back more than 50 years.

Based on Brazilian journalist Rafael Soares, who has long reported on criminal activity in the city over many years, the criminal organization "operates like a franchise" with local criminal leaders affiliating with the group and serving as "commercial associates".

The gang engages primarily in illegal drug trade, additionally trafficking guns, gold, petroleum products, liquor and tobacco.

According to the authorities, criminal affiliates have substantial firearms and officials reported that during the raid, they faced assaults using drone-delivered explosives.

The governor of Rio state, the government representative, characterized Red Command members as "narcoterrorists" and described the four police officers fatally injured in the action as brave public servants.

But the number of people killed during the raid has come in for criticism with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights expressing they felt "shocked".

During a press briefing the next day, the official supported law enforcement.

"It wasn't our intention to cause fatalities. We intended to take suspects into custody without harm," he said.

He continued that the situation worsened because the suspects resisted aggressively: "It occurred of the resistance they executed and the disproportionate use of force from the gang members."

The governor also said that the victims shown by residents in Penha were "altered".

Through a message through digital channels, he claimed that particular individuals had been stripped of the camouflage clothing he said they had been wearing "in order to shift blame to security forces".

A law enforcement representative from the police department also said that "camouflage clothing, vests, and arms" were taken away from the victims and showed footage apparently demonstrating an individual removing tactical gear {off a corpse