Brazil - October 2025

On 28 October, a large-scale police operation led by the Rio de Janeiro state police in the Alemão and Penha favela complexes was carried out with the objective of detaining leaders of the ‘Comando Vermelho’ organized criminal group. 120 people were killed, including 4 police officers, and more than 100 were detained during the operation, called Operação Contenção, becoming the deadliest in Brazil’s history. Neighbours and relatives of the victims have denounced the operation’s cruelty and lethality, alleging that police forces committed acts of torture and extrajudicial executions. Human rights groups condemned it as a massacre and a violent escalation of a security policy that terrorizes vulnerable communities without ensuring human rights or due process. Experts also pointed to the racist nature of such policing, warning that the killing of Afro-Brazilians by police is becoming systematic nationwide. President Lula da Silva called the operation ‘disastrous’and announced an independent inquiry into it.

Sources: Amnesty International, OHCHR, The conversation, Agencia Publica, Brasil de Fato, BBC