Brazil urged to end police killings
A United Nations human rights envoy has completed a visit to Brazil concluding that elements within the country’s police force continue to kill civilians with impunity. During her three weeks in the country, Asma Jahangir heard evidence of murder and acts of torture, allegedly carried out by the police and others in authority. She also met the country’s president, Luis Inacio Lula da Silva, who promised to act on the United Nations recommendations. Asma Jahangir was twice moved to tears during this visit by Brazilian women who told how they had watched as their children were shot dead by the police. She was told of torture in Brazil’s jails, of summary executions and of children being abducted by death squads – sometimes linked to the police. Full Story