‘Secret snipers’ deployed in Brazil’s Rio de Janeiro to take down armed suspects
- In January and February 2019, 305 people were killed by police, according to government statistics
Police snipers have been deployed in Rio de Janeiro to shoot armed suspects, the Brazilian city’s governor said.
The idea of deploying snipers had been perceived as merely a campaign promise, despite an outcry by human rights activists, but Governor Wilson Witzel said that since taking office in January he has put it into practice.
“The snipers are used in absolute secrecy. They are already used, but it is not spoken of. The principle is clear: if an individual carries an assault rifle, he must be neutralised immediately by lethal means,” Witzel said in the interview with the daily O Globo.
Rio de Janeiro, which successfully hosted the 2016 Olympic Games, has since faced a resurgence of violence, with frequent shoot-outs involving drug gangs and security forces.
In January and February 2019, Witzel’s first two months in office, 305 people were killed by police, according to government statistics, or one such death every four and a half hours.