Rio de Janeiro, March 12, 2018.
On February 16, President Michel Temer signed the decree of federal intervention in public security in the state of Rio de Janeiro, which was continued approved by the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate on the 20th.
With the measure, Army General Walter Souza Braga Netto, from the Eastern Military Command, became the intervener in the state over the next few months of 2018. In practice, Braga Netto now has the responsibility for commanding the Secretariat of Security, the Civil and Military Police, the Fire Department and the prison system in the state of Rio de Janeiro.
In a press conference on February 27, Braga Netto declared that Rio de Janeiro is a laboratory for Brazil. The intervener, who participated in the occupation of Maré by the Army between 2014 and 2015, states that “There is no planning for permanent actions in communities”.
Planning or not, the first impression is that the incidence of actions in peripheral territories remains. Shortly after the approval of the intervention, 3,200 soldiers participated in an operation in Vila Kennedy, Vila Aliança and Korea, in the West Zone of Rio de Janeiro. During the operation, members of the Armed Forces took photographs of residents with their ID cards in hand and recorded men and women, including elderly women.
The “federal intervention” – a term intentionally used by the government and reverberated by the mainstream media – is a military intervention and takes us back to a Brazilian historical period marked by the restriction of freedom to come and go, as well as torture, including sexual and violence-based violence. gender and race.
Unfortunately, for a portion of the population, the same ones that occupy the peripheral spaces, the logic of the military dictatorship never ceased to exist. In the last four years, communities in Rio de Janeiro have experienced a series of operations using military personnel from the Armed Forces. Between 2014 and 2015, military personnel occupied Complexo da Maré at a cost that could have reached 600 million reais. In Rocinha, in the second half of last year, 10 million reais were spent on sending military personnel. And we ended 2017 with an increase in the homicide rate to 40 deaths per 100,000 inhabitants.
Promundo is vehemently against federal intervention in public security in Rio de Janeiro. We consider that the “war on drugs” argument, in addition to being populist, opens up space for punitive actions and coercive policies that have proven to be efficient tools only for violating human rights, especially among populations in the most vulnerable situations, such as residents of peripheral areas, black people, women and LGBT people.
In addition to the immediate impacts of these actions and policies, we must think about their legacy. Militarization is a striking aspect of sexist and patriarchal society and its impact on the construction of toxic masculinities – and consequently, on the relationships between public and private violence – perpetuates the intergenerational transmission of violence.
It is possible and urgent to think about and implement public security policies that are based on non-violent approaches, respect human rights and are sustainable in the long term. We affirm this based on evidence from the research “This is not life for you”: Masculinities and non-Violence in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil , carried out by Promundo precisely during the period of mega-events and the presence of the Armed Forces in the state. Listening to approximately 1,200 men and women living in peripheral areas, public security professionals, former drug dealers and their families, as well as activists and researchers on the subject, the study concluded that indicators of urban violence will be reduced when youth welfare measures, opportunities, social and income equality improve.
It is necessary to prioritize programs aimed at preventing violence and transforming gender norms around masculinities with approaches that recognize the intersection with age, race, gender identity and affective-sexual orientation. And ensure the integration of these programs into educational and health institutions, organizations that work with women and adolescents, companies, among others, ensuring that these efforts are matched with viable alternatives and opportunities for boys and girls.
It is also a priority to respond to police violence, through mechanisms to promote transparency and notification/reporting, as well as to undertake efforts to reform police forces to ensure a distance from militarized tactics that favor the excessive use of force, corruption, torture and the lack of periodic investigations.
Public (in)security in the state of Rio de Janeiro is marked by the persistence of the failed experience of a military approach over three decades after the country's redemocratization. A chronic situation of violence and violation of rights fundamentally fostered by a logic of militarization of spaces and individuals cannot be resolved using the same logic. The daily life of a population cannot serve as a laboratory that threatens democracy on the eve of a new electoral process in our country.
References
Taylor, AY, Moura, T., Scabio, JL, Borde, E., Afonso, JS, and Barker, G. This is not life for you: masculinities and non-violence in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Results from the International Men and Gender Equality Study (IMAGES) focusing on urban violence . Washington, DC and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil: Promundo, 2016. Available at: https://promundo.org.br/recursos/isso-aqui-nao-e-vida-pra-voce-masculinidades-e-nao-violencia -in Rio de Janeiro Brazil/
Rangel, S., Verpa, D. Army soldiers take a photo and 'recognize' a favela resident in Rio . Rio de Janeiro, Brazil: Folha de S. Paulo 2018. Available at: https://www1.folha.uol.com.br/cotidiano/2018/02/moradores-deixam-comunidades-apos-serem-fotografados-em- acao-do-exercito.shtml
The globe. Military personnel 'recover' residents during operation in favelas in the West Zone : 2018. Available at: https://oglobo.globo.com/rio/militares-ficham-moradores-durante-operacao-em-favelas-da-zona-oeste- 22426554
Forum Magazine. Reflections of the intervention: Army “registers” favela residents and prevents press coverage . Rio de Janeiro, Brazil: 2018. Available at: https://www.revistaforum.com.br/reflexos-da-intervencao-exercito-ficha-moradores-de-favela-e-impede-cobertura-da-imprensa/
Betim, F. The history of operations and security plans in Rio: three decades of failures . Rio de Janeiro, Brazil: El País 2018. Available at: https://brasil.elpais.com/brasil/2018/02/19/politica/1519058632_353673.html
Betim, F. The violence that did not cease during the Rio Olympic Games . Rio de Janeiro, Brazil: El País 2016. Available at: https://brasil.elpais.com/brasil/2016/08/20/politica/1471690574_365456.html
Charleaux, JP Federal intervention in Rio: justifications and challenges . Rio de Janeiro, Brazil: Nexo 2018. Available at: https://www.nexojornal.com.br/expresso/2018/02/16/Interven%C3%A7%C3%A3o-federal-no-Rio-as- justifications-and-the-contests%C3%A7%C3%B5es
Moura, T. Non-violence in urban spaces is possible – and urgent . Rio de Janeiro, Brazil: Revista Fórum 2016. Available at: https://www.revistaforum.com.br/a-nao-violencia-em-espacos-urbanos-e-possivel-e-urgente/
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