{"id":22853,"date":"2015-06-28T09:28:49","date_gmt":"2015-06-28T12:28:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.rioonwatch.org\/?p=22853"},"modified":"2015-07-02T04:52:03","modified_gmt":"2015-07-02T07:52:03","slug":"even-drug-traffickers-are-demanding-an-end-to-violence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/?p=22853","title":{"rendered":"Even Drug Traffickers Are Demanding an End to Violence"},"content":{"rendered":"

For the original in Portuguese<\/em>, published in Viva Favela, click here<\/a>.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cLet\u2019s quit this shooting all around us. This violence is killing residents, no one can take it any more.\u201d This was a request made by Playboy, a drug trafficker from the Costa Barros<\/a> favela\u00a0in Rio\u2019s North Zone<\/a>\u00a0in an audio file released<\/a> last week. In it, Playboy proposes a ceasefire to Claudinho da Mineira from Morro do Chapad\u00e3o. According to Playboy, the war has not been beneficial to either party. He says both of them are \u201cbeing stubborn\u201d by choosing to continue the battle. Although he does not ask for a truce, he wants the unnecessary shooting to stop.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
The bullet that hit a young boy in Rocinha came in through his window.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The clashes between the rival factions and between police and factions intensified in Costa Barros in January. Residents were so frightened that no one was comfortable speaking to\u00a0Viva Favela<\/a><\/em> about the current situation.<\/p>\n

However, the rise in\u00a0violence<\/a> hasn’t only happened in the North Zone of the city. Many incidents\u00a0of violence have taken place throughout the city since the beginning of the year, such as shootings in supposedly safe areas with\u00a0the\u00a0presence of Police Pacifying Units (UPPs)<\/a>, and knife assaults, such as the one that\u00a0killed doctor\u00a0Jaime Gold<\/a> close to the\u00a0Rodrigo de Freitas Lagoon, in the South Zone<\/a> of the city.<\/p>\n

News reports of these incidents have been enough to increase the feeling of insecurity among the population. Rio de Janeiro residents in particular have been demanding measures from the state, such as more policing and repression of crime. The approval of bill 435\/15, which criminalizes the use of bladed\u00a0weapons, with 61 votes in favor versus three votes against in the state assembly (ALERJ), further illustrates this trend. The bill now needs sanctioning by Governor Luiz Fernando Pez\u00e3o. This should happen in the coming days.<\/p>\n

In contrast to this new wave of panic across\u00a0the population,\u00a0data\u00a0from the Institute of Public Security\u00a0(<\/i>ISP)<\/a> show a decrease in violence in the state of Rio de Janeiro. The Commander of Staff, Colonel Robson Rodrigues, admits residents are scared, but adds that this past May has seen the lowest homicide rates since 1991. \u201cAlthough the rates are still high, there has been a 32.7% decrease if compared to May 2014. In the Baixada Fluminense, for instance, homicides dropped from 177 to 119,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The fragility of the pacification process<\/h3>\n
\"The<\/a>
The bullet hit Wesley Barbosa in the forehead.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The ongoing security crisis shows the fragility of the Pacifying Police Units (UPPs) project, which has been discredited\u00a0after the last incidents\u00a0in Morro do Alem\u00e3o<\/a>, Morro do S\u00e3o Carlos<\/a>, and Rocinha<\/a>. Just\u00a0last week there was a five-hour long shooting in Rocinha<\/a>.<\/p>\n

According to residents, policemen from the Special Command Unit (COE) occupied the favela and started shooting at the drug traffickers. They also reported that neither the local police station nor the UPP knew anything about the operation. During the shooting, 13-year-old Wesley Barbosa was hit in the\u00a0forehead by a bullet that entered through the window of his house. His mother, Claudionora Barbosa, argued the problems generated by this kind of operation have not been solved even after pacification. \u201cIt didn’t work before and it doesn’t work with\u00a0the UPP. They don’t plan anything,\u201d she complains.<\/p>\n

She also\u00a0worries\u00a0about the daily\u00a0life of the community. \u201cIt doesn’t matter where the bullet came from. All it matters is that it hit my son. These constant shootings have created a huge evasion in schools and day cares\u00a0in Rocinha. It is impossible that the local police station and the UPP didn’t know about the operation,” she said. \u201cMy son doesn’t want to live in our house anymore. He is\u00a0unable to\u00a0sleep at night. He had nightmares, cried a lot, and said he doesn’t want to live there anymore. This is the gift\u00a0my family got\u00a0from this disastrous operation,\u201d she vents.<\/p>\n

Despite the contradictory role of the police in the favelas, drug traffickers are still afraid of the arrival of the police command, as Playboy can be heard saying in the audio file. He explains that his, like other gang factions, has problems with the government and continuing the shooting might lead to more media attention, and consequently more policing. That would be prejudicial to everyone, he says: \u201cTomorrow the UPP will enter. That would be bad for both of us (gangs), here and there.\u201d<\/p>\n

The failure of the war on drugs<\/h3>\n

Colonel Ubiratan Angelo, Human Security Coordinator at Viva Rio, argues that Playboy\u2019s audio file illustrates the current war on drugs needs to be discussed. \u201cWe can see even drug traffickers are starting to think in a logic of business rather than war,\u201d he explains.<\/p>\n

He says decriminalization is the way to avoid violent crimes<\/a>. \u201cWith decriminalization, the question will shift to inspection and regulation. This would put an end to the war between rival gangs and between these gangs and the police. They understand it is better to have a trade dispute than to dispute for space for violence and drugs,\u201d he guarantees.<\/p>\n

On\u00a0July 6, Rocinha residents will meet the Human Rights Commission of the Rio State Legislative Assembly (ALERJ) together with education, social and rights institutions to discuss the question of security and the schedule of police operations.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For the original in Portuguese, published in Viva Favela, click here.\u00a0 \u201cLet\u2019s quit this shooting all around us. This violence is killing residents, no one can take it any more.\u201d This was a request made […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":57,"featured_media":17352,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1277,335,329,1330],"tags":[718,125,1343,1679,1579,37,15,12,1408,156,30],"writer":[],"translator":[699],"illustrator":[],"photographer":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-22853","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-uppwatch","8":"category-policies","9":"category-solutions","10":"category-translation","11":"tag-costa-barros","12":"tag-drug-traffic","13":"tag-governor-pezao","14":"tag-isp","15":"tag-morro-do-alemao","16":"tag-north-zone","17":"tag-pacifying-police-unit","18":"tag-rocinha","19":"tag-sao-carlos","20":"tag-south-zone","21":"tag-urban-violence","22":"translator-luana-gama"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22853","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/57"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=22853"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22853\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/17352"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=22853"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=22853"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=22853"},{"taxonomy":"writer","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fwriter&post=22853"},{"taxonomy":"translator","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftranslator&post=22853"},{"taxonomy":"illustrator","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fillustrator&post=22853"},{"taxonomy":"photographer","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fphotographer&post=22853"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}