{"id":40794,"date":"2017-12-14T10:34:47","date_gmt":"2017-12-14T13:34:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.rioonwatch.org\/?p=40794"},"modified":"2017-12-16T11:15:12","modified_gmt":"2017-12-16T14:15:12","slug":"mothers-of-kids-killed-by-police-speak-out-at-launch-of-no-tanks-campaign-against-police-operations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/?p=40794","title":{"rendered":"Mothers of Kids Killed by Police Speak Out at Launch of ‘No Tanks!’ Campaign Against Police Operations"},"content":{"rendered":"

Clique aqui para Portugu\u00eas<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

Community activists and family members packed Rio de Janeiro\u2019s Theater of the Oppressed<\/a> on the evening of Friday, December 8<\/a> as part of a community campaign against police operations in the city\u2019s favelas.<\/p>\n

The campaign, \u201cCaveir\u00e3o N\u00e3o: Favelas Pela Vida e Contra as Opera\u00e7\u00f5es!<\/a>” (No Tanks: Favelas for Life and Against Police Operations!) launched with three days of events last week, led and organized by the Network of Communities and Movements Against Violence<\/a>. Marches, press meetings, and film screenings called attention to police violence<\/a>, highlighting its disproportionate impact on Rio\u2019s young black men<\/a>.<\/p>\n

According to the Brazilian Forum on Public Safety<\/a>, nearly 22,000 Brazilians lost their lives in police operations between 2009 and 2016. Of those killed, 99.3% were men, 81.8% were between the ages of 12 and 29, and 76.2% were black. 2016 alone saw 4,224 deaths attributed to conflict with civil and military police\u2014up 25.8% from 2015. At Friday\u2019s event<\/span>, Complexo da Mar\u00e9<\/a> community journalist and Network Against Violence representative<\/span> Gizele Martins<\/a> reminded the audience that \u201cthe fight for black lives cannot be a secondary fight… It must be central to any political agenda.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Community-level data on police operations are harder to come by, but the Caveir\u00e3o N\u00e3o! campaign hopes to change that. Campaign organizers are currently assembling a dossier documenting the number of police operations in favelas, their local impacts, and public funds spent on such operations. Martins reported that the campaign has begun meeting monthly with community members and international partners alike. \u201cWe want this campaign to reach the whole world,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Mothers of the victims of police violence<\/a> also spoke that evening, demanding justice for their sons\u2019 killers and support for favela residents. Network Against Violence representatives Ana Lucia de Oliveira and Maria Dalva Correa, both mothers to sons killed by police, led the evening\u2019s opening discussion. Oliveira’s son Michel Antonio de Oliveira da Silva was tortured and killed<\/a> by militia\u2014groups comprised of armed off-duty cops<\/a> that assert control over certain territories\u2014in the\u00a0North Zone<\/a> neighborhood of Ramos<\/a> in 2008. Correa lost her son in the 2003 Borel Massacre<\/a> when four young men were killed in a police operation in Rio\u2019s Tijuca<\/a> neighborhood. Though neither killer has faced charges, both women remain hopeful. \u201cThe community is making progress,\u201d said Oliveira, \u201cand will progress much further.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Later, organizers showed the documentary \u201cLuto Como M\u00e3e<\/a>\u201d (I Fight\/Mourn Like a Mother) and a preview for the upcoming film \u201cNossos Mortos T\u00eam Voz<\/a>” (Our Dead Have a Voice). Seven years ago, “Luto Como M\u00e3e” showcased the courageous protests of mothers of the victims of the Acari<\/a>, Via Show<\/a>, and Baixada Fluminense massacres<\/a> of 1990, 2003, and 2005, respectively. Now, “Nossos Mortos T\u00eam Voz” directors Fernando Sousa and Gabriel Barbosa hope to contribute to the continuing struggle against police impunity. Produced by Quiproc\u00f3 Films<\/a> in partnership with the Grita Baixada Forum<\/a>, the Center for Human Rights at the Diocese of Nova Igua\u00e7u<\/a>, and Misereor<\/a>, their documentary returns to Greater Rio’s Baixada Fluminense region to follow the struggle of six women as they seek justice for their sons and brothers.<\/p>\n