Rio de Janeiro, 30 October 2025. In an unprecedented event in Brazilian history, 132 people were killed and massacred in a raid on two favelas in Rio de Janeiro by police, who used firearms indiscriminately. The International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), the National Human Rights Movement (MNDH), Justiça Global, and Justiça nos Trilhos, its member organisations in Brazil, describe this painful event not only as an explicit and serious violation of fundamental rights, but also point to the political authorities in Rio de Janeiro as ultimately responsible for this premeditated and criminal action.
FIDH condemns the statements made by the governor of Rio de Janeiro, Claudio Castro, who has ignored the victims of the massacre and referred to them all as "narco-terrorists". Similarly, we strongly reject the exploitation of violence and killings as a political strategy to gain electoral advantage. The State has the right and duty to punish criminal groups, but always with due process and not through extrajudicial executions, which in Rio de Janeiro have been more than casual, becoming the usual way of conducting security policy, focused on confrontation.
This incident is yet another example of the growing police violence against Brazilian citizens. The Federal Supreme Court (STF) has established rules for this type of operation, which must even be known to the public prosecutor’s office. The National Human Rights Council (CNDH) intervened in the case and asked the STF for a decision, which was published and sets out a series of specific measures for the case, which have yet to be implemented. Fair investigative measures, with independent expert reports and extensive monitoring by civil society and social control bodies, are essential for ensuring that those responsible are held fully accountable.
"Public security actions must protect and guarantee life, not destroy it. Regardless of who they are, everyone has the right to a fair trial. There are no reasons, justifications, or motives that can justify a situation of this kind. Those responsible for the investigation must assume their constitutional role. Investigations must be conducted independently so that justice is served and, above all, so that no hasty decisions are made", says Paulo César Carbonari, a member of the national coordination of the National Human Rights Movement (MNDH).
In this context, these terrible events highlight the racialization and structural discrimination suffered by a significant portion of the population. In Brazil, the victims of violence are mostly young, Black people living in the suburbs. This is the profile of the victims of violence. Added to this is the polarization of Brazilian society, as well as the rise of far-right rhetoric that fuels hostility towards these populations.