BRAZIL: Policeman Carlos Jose Carvalho sentenced to five years for his role in a Rio death squad

A Brazilian court on Wednesday (August 23, 2006) sentenced the first of five police officers charged with murdering 29 people in a massacre in Rio de Janeiro to a long prison term -- a rare ruling in a country where police have often acted with impunity. Carlos Jose Carvalho, 32, who had pleaded not guilty to the killings, was convicted and sentenced to 543 years behind bars. He will serve no more than 30 years, the maximum term under Brazilian law. "The society of Baixada Fluminense (low income district of Rio de Janeiro) begins to rescue citizenship and begins to fill itself with hope, that it (society) can overcome this justice-maker mentality," said Judge Elizabeth Louro after reading the sentence. Four suspected accomplices of Carvalho, who was identified by witnesses and one survivor, have obtained injunctions delaying their trials. On March 31 last year, a death squad made up of off-duty policemen went on a rampage in the poor Rio suburbs of Nova Iguacu and Queimados, killing men, women and children at random. It was the worst death-squad massacre in more than a decade in the city, which is used to daily bloodshed involving police, drug gangsters and other criminals. The homicide rate of about 50 per 100,000 in metropolitan Rio de Janeiro is one of the highest in the world. Brazil's police forces have a reputation for brutality, especially in their dealings with slum dwellers. Relatives of the victims wept in the courtroom on Wednesday and some were attended by a doctor. Some relatives told the judge that strangers in a car were asking around in their neighborhood about their whereabouts during the trial, which provoked fears of threats or retaliation. Police were investigating the reports. Police evidence showed the officers were seen drinking beer and singing karaoke tunes before the attack. The crimes were either meant as a show of force to a rival group or a response to a crackdown on corrupt police officers, with the aim of causing a change in police command in the area, according to police. Human rights groups say many killings by police are summary executions of suspects and have long complained about police impunity in Brazil. In February, to the dismay of rights groups, a court absolved the commander of a police squad that killed 111 convicts in a notorious 1992 prison massacre in Sao Paulo state's Carandiru prison. He had been convicted in 2001.

ITN Source | August 25, 2006

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