President Temer Wants to Institute Mass Search and Seizures in Rio de Janeiro

02/20/2018 - 11h20

President Michel Temer plans to request judicial orders from the Courts for mass search and seizure authorizations for the Armed Forces in Rio de Janeiro.

If upheld on first appeal by the state Judiciary, these would allow for security agents to enter into residences within a determined boundary, like neighborhoods and streets, without specifying an exact address.

These wide-ranging orders are not provided for in the Penal Procedure Code and have been criticized by public security specialists and human rights advocates, who see them as opening up room for violations. Researches have agreed that the measures are illegal and infringe on the Constitution.

Although it is certain to be challenged by the Public Defender's Office, the decision deals with concerns by the Military High Command, which has been looking to use the same kinds of tactical procedures that they have been utilizing during their 13 years of operations in Haiti.

Although they generally see the measure as a positive development, high-level officers consulted by Folha see a certain risk of simply "spinning their wheels" in this kind of action.

OPERATION

Army soldiers transported by trucks, tanks and armored vehicles occupied entrances to the Chapadão complex in Rio's Northern Zone, one of the most violent regions in the capital, at the end of the afternoon on Monday (the 19th).

This is the first operation that has been carried out since the federal intervention was announced.

Hundreds of troops, under the dubious watch of residents, left their battalions in Deodoro in the Western Zone in a convoy that stretched out for nearly a kilometer. Many soldiers used balaclavas to hide their faces.

Translated by LLOYD HARDER

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	Pilar Olivares/Reuters
	Members of the armed forces patrol the Kelson's slum during an operation against crime in Rio de Janeiro