Violence Has No Place in These Games!
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VIOLENCE HAS NO PLACE IN THESE GAMES! RISK OF HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS AT THE RIO 2016 OLYMPIC GAMES Amnesty International is a global movement of more than 7 million supporters, members and activists in more than 160 countries and territories who campaign to end grave abuses of human rights. Our vision is for every person to enjoy all the rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international human rights standards. We are independent of any government, political ideology, economic interest or religion and are funded mainly by our membership and public donations. © LUIZ BALTAR / ANISTIA INTERNACIONAL BRASIL © LUIZ BALTAR First published in 2016 by Anistia Internacional Brasil Amnesty International Ltd Praça São Salvador, no 5 Peter Benenson House Laranjeiras 1 Easton Street London Rio de Janeiro/RJ WC1X 0DW 22231-170 United Kingdom © Amnesty International 2016 Index: AMR 19/4088/2016 Original language: English Versions: Portuguese and Spanish All rights reserved. This publication is copyright, but may be reproduced by any method without fee for advocacy, campaigning and teaching purposes, but not for resale. The copyright holders request that all such use be registered with them for impact assessment purposes. For copying in any other circumstances, or for reuse in other publications, or for translation or adaptation, prior written permission must be obtained from the publishers, and a fee may be payable. To request permission, or for any other inquiries, please contact [email protected] Specifications Cover: Illustration of Rio de Janeiro city by REC Design Design: REC Design Armed forces in the favela Complexo da Maré, Rio de Janeiro, 2014. The city of Rio de Janeiro will soon be home to the Olympic Games in August 2016. Amnesty International warns that previous experiences with major sporting events hosted in the country – the 2007 Pan-American Games and the 2014 FIFA World Cup – along with a history of human rights violations committed by the Brazilian security forces, raise concerns regarding the potential risk of human rights violations occurring prior to and during the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. © GENILSON ARAÚJO / AGÊNCIA O GLOBO In recent years, the issue of the link between human rights and major sporting events has moved into the global spotlight. There are human rights abuses and violations directly related to the preparation of the events, such as forced evictions to make way for the building of new sports facilities and other infrastructure, and forced labour or labour exploitation particularly in the construction sector. A major sporting event tends to increase human rights violations that already occur in the host city or country. Among other abuses by law enforcement officials, such violations include undue restrictions of the rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly and arbitrary detentions of homeless people.1 In the run-up to the 2014 FIFA World Cup, human rights were increasingly restricted and violated by Brazilian security forces. Since 2013, police forces across Brazil have used unnecessary and excessive force to disperse mostly peaceful protests, including through the abuse of so-called “less lethal” weapons, that resulted in hundreds of people being injured and arbitrarily detained, among them journalists and media activists.2 The use of the military to undertake tasks relating to public safety and policing of demonstrations – including an operation in the Maré Complex favelas from April 2014 to June 2015 – has also resulted in a series of human rights violations.3 Government officials have announced a plan to implement a similar model of security operations during the Rio 2016 Olympics, raising concerns about the security and integrity of peaceful protesters and of those living in communities where the military is expected to be deployed, particularly in marginalized Olympic Park under construction, Rio de Janeiro, 2015. areas and favelas. For several years, there was a recorded decrease in the number of homicides resulting from police intervention in the state of Rio de Janeiro.4 But in 2014, when the FIFA World Cup was held, the number increased by almost 40%, as Amnesty International documented in its 2015 report You 1. MAJOR SPORTING killed my son.5 In 2015, the increasing trend of homicides as a result from police intervention in the state of Rio de Janeiro continued. Brazilian authorities, as well as national and international sports governing bodies, must take all EVENTS IN BRAZIL RAISE appropriate measures to ensure that human rights violations do not take place as a consequence of hosting the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, and that staging the major sporting event does not contribute RISKS TO HUMAN RIGHTS to deepening recurrent abuses. “The UN Human Rights Council calls upon States to co-operate with the 1 Amnesty International has worked on cases of human rights violations ahead of and during major sports events in China (Beijing Olym- pics 2008), Russia (Winter Olympics 2014), Brazil (World Cup 2014), Qatar (World Cup 2022) and Azerbaijan (European Games 2015). International Olympic Committee and the International Paralympic Committee in 2 Amnesty International, They use a strategy of fear (Index: AMR 19/005/2014) www.amnesty.org/en/documents/AMR19/005/2014/en/ their efforts to use sport as a tool to promote human rights, development, peace, 3 Amnesty International Report 2015/2016, Brazil entry (Index: POL 10/2552/2016) www.amnesty.org/en/countries/americas/brazil/ dialogue and reconciliation during and beyond the period of the Olympic and report-brazil/ Paralympic Games, in particular by observing the Olympic Truce.” 4 “Homicide resulting from police intervention” is the administrative term used by the police to register cases of people killed during police operations. (Resolution adopted by the Human Rights Council on 24 March 2016, A/HRC/RES/31/23) 5 Amnesty International, You killed my son: Homicides by military police in the city of Rio de Janeiro (Index: AMR 19/2068/2015) www.amnesty.org/en/documents/amr19/2068/2015/en/ 4 5 Touristic Sites N 2km International Olympic Venues Costa Airport ILHA DO ha Barros Lin Verm GOVERNADOR Acari el Favelas ha © RENATO CARVALHO / ANISTIA INTERNACIONAL BRASIL CARVALHO © RENATO asil Av. Br Complexo Deodoro do Alemão Complex Complexo de Favelas da Maré GUANABARA B AY Rocha Miranda Mauá Manguinhos Square Jacarezinho Providência Lapa ioca Maracanã Arches CENTRO T ra n anscar s r o T l ím p i c o la are Sambadrome m TIJUCA Flamengo a A h Park in L Christ Sugarloaf JACAREPAGUÁ Olympic Copacabana Park Olympic LAGOA City IPANEMA Olympic Village SÃO CONRADO Av. das Américas BARRA DA TIJUCA ATLANTIC O C E A N RECREIO DOS BANDEIRANTES Map of Rio de Janeiro showing Olympic and tourist sites as well as favelas mentioned in this document. 6 7 When Rio de Janeiro presented its candidacy to host the 2016 Olympic Games, a series of pledges were made as part of the legacy of the Games, including generating better security conditions for all people in the city, state and country.The authorities also said that the public security planning had already started with the Pan American Games back in 2007 and the FIFA World Cup in 2014: “The three government levels will be working jointly to ensure a safe and agreeable © LUIZ BALTAR / ANISTIA INTERNACIONAL BRASIL © LUIZ BALTAR environment for the Games. The Games will act as a catalyst of long-term improvements in Rio de Janeiro security systems, representing a real opportunity of transformation, through a process that started with the Pan-American Games 2007, and has been evolving with the preparations for the FIFA World Cup in 2014. The planning of the Games’ security operation was based on a full assessment of security and related risks, conducted by international risk and security management experts, working jointly with the competent Brazilian authorities... The Brazilian experience in ensuring the security of the large events held in the city... will guarantee the delivery of a successful and friendly security operation. The general population is already reaping the benefits of the project of Rio de Janeiro Pacifying Police Units (UPPs) deployed based on a responsible and careful planning”.7 However, several emblematic cases documented by Amnesty International and other human rights organizations, along with the available official statistics of abuse committed by law enforcement agents, paint a different picture. The organizers have failed to meet the promised conditions, and human rights violations in the context of public security operations are still taking place. The risk of increased violations committed directly as a result of hosting the Olympic Games is great. The current financial crisis in the state of Rio de Janeiro, which has resulted in budget cuts for the public security sector, could also contribute to increasing this risk. Armed forces in the favela The Public Security Secretary of the state of Rio de Janeiro, José Mariano Beltrame, said in an Complexo da Maré, interview to the press, that security plans for Rio included the deployment of about 65000 police Rio de Janeiro, 2014. officers and up to 20,000 military soldiers to guard the Olympic Games, the largest security operation in Brazilian history.8 However, Mr. Beltrame said that the number of public security forces initially planned to be deployed from other states or from the federal government will be significantly reduced.9 This means there is no official confirmation on the exact figure of security forces planned 2. PUBLIC SECURITY to guard the Games. It is expected that the military, as well as other federal security forces, will be deployed to favelas in Rio de Janeiro as part of the public security strategy for the Olympic Games. This raises concerns that human rights violations will take place without proper investigations and OPERATIONS UNDERMINING prosecutions as it has been the case in previous incidents.