Relatives of police violence victims call for justice in Rio
Family members of victims of police violence in the state of Rio de Janeiro held a demonstration outside the Guanabara palace, the seat of the state government, in the south of the city, on Thursday (Aug. 17).
Carrying placards with the photos and names of the victims as well as cardboard crosses and coffins, the protesters demanded justice and called for the end of killings during crackdowns in favelas and impoverished districts. The rally was organized by the more than 100 people making up the movement of families of police violence victims.
“This demonstration represents the voice of the mothers who have lost their children—mothers who are asking for justice, who can’t stand a new case every single day. We just want justice. [We want] those who shot our children to pay, in jail,” said Priscila Menezes, mother of 13-year-old Thiago Menezes Flausino, who was shot dead in the early hours of August 7 on the main access road to Cidade de Deus, a neighborhood in Jacarepaguá, in western Rio.
“I can’t explain. It hasn’t sunk in yet. All that’s left now are the memories of him—good memories, because he was a good boy, caring, polite. We don’t ever imagine we can go through such a thing. We’ll continue to protest, in a bid to draw the authorities’ attention and have them change their ways,” Menezes declared.
Regretfully, Thiago’s is not isolated case. According to the Fogo Cruzado Institute, which gathers data on armed violence in Rio and elsewhere, in the last seven years, between July 2016 and July 2023, police operations were the main reason behind the victimization of children and adolescents. During this span, 112 were killed and another 174 were injured. In 2022, 1,327 people died in crackdowns by state security forces—the equivalent of 29.7 percent of all violent deaths recorded in the year, according to the Public Security Institute (ISP).
According to Rio Councilor Monica Cunha, the march is the way family members have found to protect themselves and call for justice. “That’s how we stand our ground, unlike what the governor does. He storms our favelas with officials who get paid with our tax money, wielding rifles and killing our men and our black children,” she said.
Cunha is the mother of Rafael da Silva Cunha, who was murdered on December 5, 2006, at the age of 20. She founded the Moleque Movement in 2003 to take action against such violations. “What we witness here is racism against poor and black people. If we had the death penalty, it could target anyone. But it’s not just anyone. In this place, there’s a skin color and an address. They’re young, black, and poor favela residents,” she went on to state.
Márcia Jacinto, mother of Hanry Silva Gomes de Siqueira, 16, who was shot in the chest in 2002, also pleads for justice. “I was living my life—home, school, church. I knew the son I had at home. When I went to bed and he wasn’t home, my heart was pounding. I woke up scared, because I’d gone to the hospital with my granddaughter. I was so tired. I heard shots, but I couldn’t have imagined that one of those shots would hit my son’s heart at point-blank.”
Jacinto took care of the investigation into her son’s death herself, for which she is still awaiting justice. “If we mothers didn’t do what we do, our children would die from stray bullets or in the hands of drug dealers, and we’d be crying, because we’re poor. We don’t have the money to pay a good lawyer.”
Sônia Bonfim is also waiting for justice. Her son Samuel Vicente, 17, and her husband William Vasconcelos da Silva were killed in 2021 in Anchieta, in northern Rio, during a Military Police intervention. They were taking Samuel’s girlfriend to a care station. Samuel was a student at the Military Police school in São Gonçalo, in Greater Rio.
“Next month will be two years since my son was murdered—my son and my husband, and so far there’s been no response. They haven’t done any forensics at the scene. It hasn’t been opened yet. It’s still a secret inquiry. My son is a student at the Military Police school in São Gonçalo,” she said. “The very force that was supposed to protect us is killing us. It’s not easy,” she added.
The state government was contacted by Agência Brasil but had not responded as of the publication of this article.
