UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial executions concludes fact-finding mission to Colombia

On 18 June 2009, the UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial executions concluded his 8-18 June fact-finding mission to Colombia. He investigated killings by the military, police, guerrillas, paramilitaries and other illegal armed groups.

His press statement is available in English and Spanish.

Kenya: US ambassador and Kenyan Prime Minister call for independent investigations into assassinations

Today, the US Ambassador to Kenya, Michael E Ranneberger, called for Kenya to carry out independent investigations into the assassinations last night of two human rights defenders in Nairobi.  He offered to Kenya the assistance of the FBI to independently investigate the killings.
The Prime Minister of Kenya, Raila Odinga, also called for independent investigations.  His statement is available in full here.

Yesterday, the UN Special Rapporteur had called for comprehensive investigations into the two murders, and urged assistance from another country to ensure the independence the investigations.

Kenya: BBC interview about assassinations in Kenya with the UN Special Rapporteur

Today, the UN Special Rapporteur spoke on the BBC’s “Focus on Africa” program about the assassinations last night in Nairobi of two human rights defenders.
The audio of the interview is available in full here.

Kenya: Two prominent human rights defenders assassinated in Nairobi today

Today, the UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial executions issued a press release in response to the assassination this evening of two prominent human rights defenders in Nairobi.

The two men - Mr Oscar Kamau Kingara and Mr John Paul Oulu - worked for the Oscar Foundation, a human rights organisation providing free legal aid services to the poor.  The Special Rapporteur met with them two weeks ago during his February fact-finding mission to Kenya to discuss the issue of killings by police.

Alston called for the Government of Kenya to ensure that an independent investigation was carried out, by bringing in an independent team from Scotland Yard or the South African Police.

The press release is available here.

Kenya: heads of diplomatic missions and civil society support Special Rapporteur’s preliminary findings and recommendations

On 26 February 2009, a group of heads of diplomatic missions in Kenya (Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America) issued a joint statement welcoming the Special Rapporteur’s preliminary findings and recommendations.  Full statement available here. 

On 27 February 2009, twelve Kenyan NGOs released a joint statement in support of the Special Rapporteur’s preliminary findings and recommendations, and urging the Government to take action.  The NGOs were: the Independent Medico-Legal Unit, Kenya Human Rights Commission, International Commission of Jurists-Kenya Section, Africa Center for Open Governance, Release Political Prisoners Trust, Haki Focus, Law Society of Kenya, Christian Legal Education Aid and Research, Amnesty International-Kenya Section, Legal Resources Foundation, Kituo cha Sheria, and Kenyans for Peace, Truth and Justice.  Full statement available here.

UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial executions concludes fact-finding mission to Kenya

On 25 February 2009, the UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial executions, Professor Philip Alston, concluded his 10 day fact-finding mission to Kenya.  He found that killings by police in Kenya were “systematic, widespread and carefully planned”.
He issued a press statement in Nairobi, detailing his preliminary findings and recommendations.  He also issued a short press release.

Brazil: Dispute over homicide statistics involves Special Rapporteur’s recommendation

In his report, the Special Rapporteur discussed the practice of recording killings by the police as “autos de resistência” (the term used in Rio de Janeiro) or as “resistência seguida de morte” (the term used in São Paulo):

The practice of recording killings by police in this way was increasingly adopted by police during the 1990s and, although not mandated by law, is now standard practice across Brazil. The resistance classification is intended to indicate that the person was killed while committing the crime of resisting arrest or resisting other lawful orders of police.16 As explained to me by police and Government representatives, it is intended to indicate that police had to use necessary and proportionate lethal force in response to an attack or threat from the person killed.

However, the classification of whether a killing is lawful or not is generally determined by the police officer who submits a form declaring the case to be one of resistance. A detective at the appropriate Civil Police station makes the first formal classification, relying primarily on the report of the involved policeman.

He concluded that:

This report will discuss a number of reforms that are needed to reduce the level of killing by the police. However, the starting point for serious reform must be to abolish the police practice of registering killings as “acts of resistance”. Any killing by the police should be registered in the same way as any other killing, and thoroughly investigated. The present system constitutes a carte blanche for police killings.

The question of how to record killings by the police has again led to controversy in Rio de Janeiro following the recent release of new crime statistics:

Translation: This Thursday, the ex-director of the Institute of Public Security (Instituto de Segurança Pública (ISP)), the anthropologist Ana Paula Miranda, accused the state government of Rio de Janeiro of “fabricating” the celebrated 8.8% fall in the homicide index. Dismissed in February after publishing a record number of killings by the police, she said that “the government does not count autos de resistência in the total of intentional homicides”. Moreover, she said, “in some cases that are clearly homicides, such as when burned bodies are encountered, they are being registered as the discovery of a corpse and bones”.

The declarations of the anthropologist were made in the presence of the current president of the ISP, the Military Police colonel Mário Sérgio Duarte, in the second Forum on Violence, Popular Participation and Human Rights, which took place in the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio. “Records of autos de resistencia, disappearances, the discovery of corpses and bones continue in an upward trend since 2000,” affirmed Ana Paula, showing data from the ISP.

Currently a researcher at the Pereira Passos Institute, she believes that some homicides were redistributed into these categories, because the ISP has stopped going back to the internal affairs services (corregedorias) to have the detectives correct erroneously classified incidents. “After my dismissal, there was a new direction of the ISP toward breakdown,” said Ana Paula.

According to her, some data are not disclosed, such as the bi-annual totals and the annual files on incidents involving women, the elderly, children, and adolescents. The most serious concern in her view is that the data on criminality will lose is legitimacy. “The agreements with the Municipal Health Secretariat (Secretaria Municipal de Saúde) were not renewed. Without these, it is not possible to check the veracity of incidents provided by the police stations, because there is not way to compare them with the hospital records.”

In the debate, the current president of the ISP, colonel Mário Sérgio Duarte, denied the manipulation of data, but did not present any number to contradict his predecessor. “We have a fall in intentional homicides and in the discovery of bones indicating that a person died. A disappearance is not necessarily a death. Also, we cannot add autos de resistência to homicides, because it would be an error,” explained Duarte. He said that the autos de resistência take place “in different circumstances” from the homicides.

Ex-commander of the Police Special Operations Battalion (Batalhão de Operações Policiais Especiais (BOPE)), Duarte said that they did not renew the agreements “due to scheduling problems”. But the colonel’s explanations did not convince human rights activists. “In Rio as in São Paulo, autos de resistência should be counted as homicides, in line with the recommendation of the UN”, said the coordinator of the non-governmental organization Justiça Global, Sandra Carvalho.

“In Rio, the number of persons killed by the police corresponds to 12% of intencional homicidas. The colonel lacks preparation or qualification to occupy this position and headed the BOPE which kills the most of the police in the state,” said Sandra.

Original: A ex-diretora do Instituto de Segurança Pública (ISP), a antropóloga Ana Paula Miranda, acusou nesta quinta-feira, 18, o governo estadual do Rio de Janeiro de “fabricar” a comemorada queda de 8,8 no índice de homicídios. Exonerada em fevereiro, após divulgar número recorde de mortos pela polícia, ela afirmou que “o governo não contabiliza os autos de resistência na soma final de homicídios dolosos”. Além disso, disse, “alguns casos que são claramente homicídios, como os corpos carbonizados encontrados, estão sendo registrados como encontro de cadáveres e ossadas”.

As declarações da antropóloga foram feitas na presença do atual presidente do ISP, o coronel da Polícia Militar (PM) Mário Sérgio Duarte, no 2.º Fórum Violência, Participação Popular e Direitos Humanos, ocorrido na Pontifícia Universidade Católica (PUC) do Rio. “Registros de autos de resistência, desaparecimentos, encontro de ossadas e cadáveres continuam em tendência de crescimento desde 2000″, afirmou Ana Paula, mostrando dados do ISP.

Atualmente pesquisadora do Instituto Pereira Passos, ela acredita que alguns homicídios foram redistribuídos para estas categorias, pois o ISP deixou de recorrer às corregedorias para que os delegados refaçam as ocorrências erroneamente tipificadas. “Após a minha exoneração houve um redirecionamento do ISP para o desmonte”, disse Ana Paula.

Segunda ela, alguns dados deixaram de ser divulgados, como os balanços semestrais e os dossiês anuais sobre as ocorrências envolvendo mulheres, idosos, crianças e adolescentes. O mais grave para a antropóloga é que os dados sobre a criminalidade devem perder a legitimidade. “Os convênios com a Secretaria Municipal de Saúde não foram renovados. Sem eles, não é possível checar a veracidade das ocorrências fornecidas pelas delegacias, pois não há como compará-las com os atendimentos nos hospitais.”

No debate, o atual presidente do ISP, coronel Mário Sérgio Duarte, negou a manipulação de dados, mas não apresentou nenhum número para contradizer sua antecessora. “Temos quedas de homicídios dolosos e de encontro de ossadas, que indica que aquela pessoa morreu. O desaparecimento não dá a segurança sobre a morte. Também não podemos somar autos de resistência aos homicídios, pois seria um erro”, justificou Duarte. Ele disse que os autos de resistência ocorrem “em circunstâncias diferentes” aos homicídios.

Ex-comandante do Batalhão de Operações Policiais Especiais (Bope), Duarte afirmou que não renovou os convênios “por problemas de agenda”. Porém, as explicações do coronel não convenceram aos ativistas dos direitos humanos. “Tanto no Rio como em São Paulo os autos de resistência devem ser computados como homicídios, conforme a recomendação da ONU (Organização das Nações Unidas)”, afirmou a coordenadora da organização não-governamental (ONG) Justiça Global, Sandra Carvalho.

“No Rio, o número de pessoas mortas pela polícia corresponde a 12% dos homicídios dolosos. O coronel não tem preparo, qualificação para ocupar o cargo e esteve a frente da tropa (o Bope) que mais mata na polícia do Estado”, disse Sandra.

See Pedro Dantas , “Rio fabricou queda de homicídios, diz ex-diretora do ISP,” O Estado de São Paulo (18/09/2008).

The statistics released by the ISP may be found here, and a narrative summary here. These statistics include:

• In the first half of 2008, there were 2,859 victims of intentional homicide as compared to 3,135 in the first half of 2007.
• In the first half of 2008, there were 757 victims of “resistance killings” as compared to 694 in the first half of 2007.

Brazil: Striking police cite Special Rapporteur’s report

In the Campinas region of São Paulo state, the head of the police union cited the Special Rapporteur’s report in the context of a strike for higher pay:

Translation: Today was another day without movement in the police stations of Campinas e Região, and the second in which the Civil Police of the state of São Paulo remained on strike. . . .

According to [Lima de Carvalho, president of the Civil Police Union of Campinas e Região, the government is insensitive to the problem of public security. He reports that all of the police are uncompromising and united about carrying the strike to wherever is necessary to get what they are asking for. “Even the UN asks for the salaries of the police in Rio and São Paulo to be improved. This demonstrates that it really is a necessity,” he said.

Original: Hoje foi mais um dia sem movimento nas delegacias de Campinas e região, o segundo em que a Polícia Civil do Estado de São Paulo permaneceu em greve. . . .

Segundo Lima, o governo é insensível quanto ao problema da segurança pública. Ele relata que todos os policiais estão irredutíveis e unidos a ponto de levar a greve até onde for preciso para conseguir o que é pedido por eles. “Até mesmo a ONU (Organização das Nações Unidas) pede para que o salário das policias do Rio e de São Paulo sejam melhorados. Isso demonstra que realmente é uma necessidade”, diz.

See “Policiais civis prosseguem com movimento grevista: Movimento foi abaixo do esperado nas delegacias de Campinas e apenas os casos mais graves foram atendidos”, Cosmo Online (17/09/2008).

The Special Rapporteur’s report included the following recommendation:

83. Off-duty police should under no circumstances be permitted to work for private security firms. To facilitate such changes:

(a) Police should be paid significantly higher salaries.

(b) The shift structure of police work should be reformed so that police cannot regularly work for large blocks of time and then receive multiple days off.

Brazil: Response from the federal Ministry of Justice

Brazil’s Ministry of Justice responded to the report issued by the UN Special Rapporteur following a fact-finding mission to Brazil.

As reported by Folha de São Paulo:

Translation: The federal government cited the Pronasci (Programa Nacional de Segurança Pública com Cidadania [National Program of Public Security with Citizenship]) to argue that the 94 objectives of the program address the recommendations made by the UN.

Also, by means of an official note, the Ministry of Justice stated that Pronasci “proposes to enhance the professionalism of public security with projects like the Training Scholarship (Bolsa Formação) (with a value of 400 reais) and the subsidized housing plan.”

“In areas of social breakdown and where there is not a state presence, Pronasci is going to work with police, outside of the police cars and close to the community and with the establishment of social projects directed at youth,” says the note.

One of the slogans of the minister Tarso Genro (Justice), Pronasci, according to the report of the agency, is a program where there is the “strengthening of the internal affairs services (corregedoria) and the ombudsmen (ouvidorias).”

With respect to Rio in particular, the government says that it devotes “special attention” to that state and cites the formation of a committee to deal with public security, in which the state government also takes part.

Original: Já o governo federal usou o Pronasci (Programa Nacional de Segurança Pública com Cidadania) para alegar que as 94 ações previstas no programa atendem às recomendações feitas pela ONU.

Também por meio de nota oficial, o Ministério da Justiça afirmou que o Pronasci “propõe a valorização dos profissionais de segurança pública com projetos como Bolsa Formação (no valor de R$ 400) e plano habitacional com juros mais facilitados”.

“Em territórios de descoesão social e onde não há a presença do Estado, o Pronasci vai atuar com uma polícia, fora dos carros policiais, mas próxima da comunidade e com a instituição de projetos sociais voltados a jovens”, diz a nota.

Uma das bandeiras do ministro Tarso Genro (Justiça), o Pronasci, segundo informe do órgão, é um programa onde há o “fortalecimento das corregedorias e ouvidorias.”

Sobre o Rio em particular, o governo diz que dedica ao Estado “atenção especial” e cita a formação de comitê para tratar de segurança pública, no qual também faz parte o governo do Estado.

See “Rio critica “viés ideológico’; União prevê malhora”, Folha de São Paulo (16/09/2008).

Brazil: Response from São Paulo’s Secretary of Public Security

Ronaldo Marzagão, São Paulo’s Secretary of Public Security, responded to the report issued by the UN Special Rapporteur following a fact-finding mission to Brazil.

As reported by Folha de São Paulo:

Translation: São Paulo’s Secretary of Public Security, Ronaldo Marzagão, responded, in a note, to the criticism that there was a lack of investigation in cases homicides committed by police: “In the state [of São Paulo], for each homicide a police investigation is initiated.”

“In the city of São Paulo, for example, of the 1,538 intentional homicides recorded in 2007, 732 were crimes in which the perpetrators were known - including those perpetrated by police. All were referred to the justice system with the identification of the perpetrator.”

Original: O secretário da Segurança Pública de São Paulo, Ronaldo Marzagão, rebateu, em nota, às críticas à falta de investigação de casos de homicídios cometidos por policiais: “No Estado, para cada homicídio é instaurado um inquérito policial”.

“Na cidade de São Paulo, por exemplo, dos 1.538 homicídios dolosos registrados em 2007, 732 foram crimes de autoria conhecida -inclusive os praticados por policiais. Todos foram encaminhados à Justiça com identificação do autor”.

See “Rio critica “viés ideológico’; União prevê malhora”, Folha de São Paulo (16/09/2008).