Report raps police killings in Brazil

RIO DE JANEIRO, Dec. 9 (UPI) -- Police in two of Brazil's major cities, Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo, routinely execute criminal suspects, Human Rights Watch alleged Tuesday.

The group's report, "Lethal Force: Police Violence and Public Security in Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo," suggests the police killings make the two cities more violent by undermining respect for law. Rio has one of the highest homicide rates in the world, with many of the killings carried out by armed gangs, which are also a problem in Sao Paulo.

The report alleges police may carry out up to 1,000 unnecessary killings in the two cities every year.

"Extrajudicial killing of criminal suspects is not the answer to violent crime," said Jose Miguel Vivanco, Americas director at Human Rights Watch. "The residents of Rio and Sao Paulo need more effective policing, not more violence from the police."

Human Rights Watch examined 51 killings in which officers said suspects had been killed while trying to escape or resisting arrest. The group found that in 33 cases evidence suggested the killings were police executions, including 17 in which the victims were apparently shot at point-blank range.