Originally published on the CGS blog on July 7, 2016.
Ready or not, Rio de Janeiro will host the 2016 Summer Olympics in August. The Brazilian city, which is set to receive one million visitors, has long been plagued by violent crime and police brutality—a security risk for both athletes and tourists. In order to combat these fears, Brazil loaned $895 million to the city to keep the peace. But there is another, often neglected group, that also deserves protection: Rio de Janeiro’s residents.
Combined with the numbers on police violence, Brazil’s security policy gives NGOs and observers reason to pause. Police in the state of Rio de Janeiro were responsible for 436 killings in 2014 alone, according to Human Rights Watch. And no fewer than 85,000 security officers will be deployed throughout the games. (Forces include civilian and military police, National Public Security Force soldiers, members of the armed forces, and privately funded brigades.)
Police Brutality
Brazil’s extreme security measures might make visitors feel more at home, but the same can’t be said for millions of residents who face high rates of homicides committed by police. These security operations to reduce crime before events such as the World Cup or the Olympics often threaten the local population, according to Amnesty International.
Since 2009 (when Brazil was awarded the 2016 Games), “2,500 people have been killed by the police in the city of Rio alone, and justice has only been served in a negligible number of cases,” said Atila Roque, executive director of Amnesty Brazil, in the NGO’s latest report. Over the past 10 years, police have killed nearly two people per day, on average.
Social Cleansing
In addition to violence, the police are known for unlawfully detaining homeless people as well as black youth and poor people heading to the beach. They even evict residents in the name of what the United Nations calls “social cleansing.”
Authorities have been driving a culture of fear among these groups, according to São Paulo-based Human Rights lawyer, Karina Quintanilha. “We have been witnessing heightened repression since the mass protests of June 2013, not only on the part of the police but also the political and judicial authorities,” she told Equal Times.
New Justice Minister Alexandre de Moraes follows this hard line. He invested heavily in anti-riot equipment, developed new tactics for restoring order, and reinforced the criminalization of protesters’ actions in his previous post as Secretary for Public Security in the state of São Paulo.
“It’s as if the state of São Paulo has been his testing ground. And no one knows what he could do on the scale of Brazil,” said Quintanilha.
Loss of Freedom
An anti-terrorism law, approved in March, gives judges a wide margin for interpretation when it comes to protesters and could curtain freedom of expression and assembly. Denouncements of abuses tied to preparation for the Games may now fall under this law.
Likewise, emergency legislation requested by the International Olympics Committee (IOC), the General Law of the Olympic Games, will restrict freedom of movement and assembly in specific areas and includes penalties of up to one year in prison for anyone using or misusing the “Olympic brand” for critical ends.
The possibility of taking a more critical look at the intersection of human rights and security may have passed this time around, but Brazil must be a lesson for both the Olympic host and the IOC. The Olympic Games should be a celebration of athletic performance and national pride—not an excuse to curtain freedom.
