Terrorised by 'skull tanks' of the slums

Amnesty says innocent people have been killed by police using armoured vehicles. Picture / Reuters

SAO PAULO - The infamous black, tank-like vehicle growls through the dusty shanty town's streets, a skull symbol emblazoned on its side, its armour plating glinting in the sun.

In the "favela" world of drugs, prostitution and gang wars, the caveiro - or "big skull" - vehicle was bought by police to bring order to the chaos.

Instead, claims Amnesty International, the caveiro is used endemically by the Batalho de Operaes Policiais Especiais (Bope), Rio's elite police force, to "terrorise" the vulnerable communities they supposedly serve.

Rio police bought their first caveiro four years ago and now own 10 of the military vehicles, which they claim are necessary to protect their officers in the fight against the drug traffickers who control many of the shanty towns.

An report by Amnesty and several Brazilian human rights groups contains a series of witness accounts that claim the communities are suffering from the force's military tactics.

One account says that Carlos Henrique, 11, was on his way home last July when police stormed his community of Vila do Joo in a caveiro, killing him with a shot to the head.

Two months later in Favela de Acari, residents reported that 17-year-old Michel Lima da Silva was also shot and killed by an officer from a caveiro. The young man's corpse was reportedly then hoisted on to the back of the vehicle and paraded around the streets. Money was demanded for the return of the body.

Between May and September last year, 11 people were killed in operations involving the vehicles, according to the Amnesty report.

Despite the risk to people living in the favelas, residents claim the caveiros, which hold up to 12 armed officers each, continue regularly to enter the poor districts, firing at random on residential streets and broadcasting messages through loudspeakers fixed to the vehicle.

Some of these messages are "danger" warnings, and chilling broadcasts such as "we are here to take your souls" are routinely used, rights activists say. The sinister threat fits in with the grim-reaper imagery of the Bope logo, a skull crossed with two guns, painted on the side of the vehicle.

The police "tank" has a turret that rotates 360 degrees as well as various shooting positions along the side. The vehicle weighs eight tons and is capable of speeds of 160km/h.

Edilson Santos, the director of the arts centre in the community of Complexo da Mar, said caveiros regularly arrived in the favela late at night: "Often I see mothers, children and other people running in fear. Everyone - young people, children, old people, artists - we are all so anxious about how unsafe this vehicle is."

Tim Cahill, the head Brazilian researcher for Amnesty International, said the report marked the launch of an international campaign to stop the use of the caveiro and also against other police militarist tactics.

"By deploying a vehicle to aggressively and indiscriminately target whole communities, the authorities are using the caveiro as a tool of intimidation," he said.

"Police officers have a legitimate right to protect themselves as they go about their work but they also have a duty to protect the communities they serve."

Cahill also said that evidence from organisations such as the Institute of Religious Studies in Rio had suggested that the increase of police armour was leading to an "arms race" with drug gangs now looking for more and more sophisticated and heavy weaponry to use against the caveiros.

"Increasingly the community's view of the police is one of terror," Cahil said. "We hear that people are scared to leave their homes, and that they are too frightened to send their children to school in case they get caught up in a shoot-out."

According to Marcelo Freixo, a researcher for the Brazilian human rights organisation Global Justice, who took part in the report, the prevalence of the caveiro has become a symbol of the failings of public security policies in Rio.

"It typifies the police's confrontational and divisive approach to Rio's public security crisis," Freixo said.

"Using violence to combat violence is fundamentally counter-productive. Not only does it lead to tragic deaths of innocent bystanders, but it does not solve the problems of escalating criminal violence in Rio de Janeiro."

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