Brazil's far-right president, Jaime Bolsonaro, said he hopes criminals will die in the streets like cockroaches, in clear support for a tough bill he hopes to pass to protect security forces and citizens who shoot alleged perpetrators without being questioned by the judiciary.
In an interview aired on Monday, Bolsonaro said he hoped Congress would approve the controversial bill, which would amend an article in the Brazilian Penal Code to allow certain illegal actions. Activists fear it could cause a bloodbath, but Bolsonaro claimed that it would provide "legal cover" to police officers, who are desperately needed when using lethal force to do their job to "dramatically" reduce violence.
"These young (criminals) will die in the streets like cockroaches (if this material is approved) and that's what it should be," Bolsonaro said. Bolsonaro argues that the Brazilian police were engaged in an "unequal" battle against crime, and they should be honored to use their weapons against criminals, rather than being sent to court. He also adds that "righteous citizens" also deserve protection if they need to use lethal force to protect their lives or property. Supporters of the president praised these fiery statements, albeit painful even by the Bolsarist standards, but angered activists and opposition. "These are odious comments," said human rights activist and lawyer in Sao Paulo, Ariel de Castro Alves. Alves claimed that Bolsonaro's vague and inhumane rhetoric had already caused deadly police violence - largely against the poor, young people and blacks - and feared that the legislation, if passed, could make matters worse. `` Military police have committed 414 murders in São Paulo (in the first half of 2019), the highest number since 2003. It encourages police violence and ends up in brutality as an incentive, '' Elvis said.
The head of the Brazilian research center at the Ijarapi Institute, Robert Mugah, said there was a similar surge in killings in Rio de Janeiro, where police killed 434 people in the first three months of 2019.``This is the highest number in more than two decades. '' In the first six months of this year, reports confirmed that Rio police killed 881 people, meaning one person every five hours.