Rio violence: Protests as girl, eight, ‘killed by police’

After the 8-year-old girl was killed by the police, protests began in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The number of victims of operations by security forces continues to increase.

Ágatha Vitória Sales Félix was with his mother in the van when he was shot from behind in a poor area on Friday.

Residents said they targeted the motorcyclist when the police hit her. The police said they responded to the attack.

From January to August, 1,249 people died in Rio.

Agatha is the fifth child to die this year as a result of violence against the police.

Critics say Governor Wilson Witzel's tough approach, which took office in January, is behind many of the victims controlled by a powerful group of victims in the city's poorest district, Favelas.

• Long reading: In slums of Rio & # 39; policy of murder & # 39 ;?
• Listen: Deadly Forces in Rio's favelas

Ágatha was going home with his mother when he was shot from behind in Alemão, one of Rio's biggest celebrities on Friday night. She was sent to the hospital but died.

In the statement, the police said the police had confronted the offenders in response to the attack. Investigation started.

However, Agata's family objected to the police saying that when the police struck her, she targeted a motorcycle passing by nearby and that no gunfight took place at that time.

“A man came to the motorcycle and asked the police to stop him. He left unstopped, armed and police shot. There was no confrontation. [from the police]Uncle Elias, a girl uncle, told the local media.

Her grandfather Isleton said: [authorities] You will say that the child died in the confrontation. What confrontation? Is your granddaughter armed? "

Another death for stats

BBC News Hugo Vachega

Another poor black family mourning in Rio. Another young and innocent life was lost in the slums of the city as a tragedy spared by almost no one. And sadly there is no signal that it will make a difference.

Governor Witzel has promised to fight violence with violence, a policy that has been tried in the past and has failed to achieve lasting results. More and more people are dying, claiming that they are on the right path, and outside the poorest areas, many see the cost in an effort to reduce crime.

In Favelas, it's a different story. When visiting Alemão to deal with another death to the police, the inhabitants almost unanimously recalled how to view the trigger happiness agent as the source of most violence.

Agatha's smiley face was on the first page of many newspapers in Rio. But as my grandfather said, she will be another statistic. Worse, perhaps the probability that the family sees justice is near zero.

Read the full report of Hugo

Hundreds of residents protested on Saturday, and some were holding banners with the "life of the obvious" and "don't kill us." Another protest was held on Sunday before Agatha's funeral.

Electionists, politicians and social media users have criticized the Governor's policy. Witzel did not comment on Agatha's case but said his office "regretted" her death.

Conservative ex-Judge and Marine Corps, Witzel adopts what many have described as a confrontation policy, and employs armed officers and even snipers with helicopters to fight gangsters in slums of dense populations.

He promised last year that the authorities would "slaughter" armed suspects and "dig" graveyards to bury criminals if necessary.

Renata Souza, an opposition lawmaker who leads the Rio State Parliament's Human Rights Commission, told the BBC: [has given] Security kills licenses … country can't act as a terrorist. "

Earlier this year, she asked the United Nations to investigate police operations, and this month UN Human Rights Commissioner Michelle Vaclet raised concerns about increased police murder.

Witzel, who announced his plans to carry out the presidency, often referred to the reduction of murder and other crimes as evidence that his policy worked. But experts say it is not clear whether this is a direct result of his approach.

Jair Bolsonaro, a top-of-the-line president who defends the use of force from suspects, repeatedly said that "a good offender is a dead offender." He and Vittel supported the revision of the law to prevent police officers from being prosecuted for killing suspects.

Last month Bolsonaro said that if the change was approved, criminals would "die like street cockroaches".