🔗 Share this article

The photographer

A photographer who observed the results of an extensive law enforcement action in Rio de Janeiro has described how residents returned with badly injured victims of people who lost their lives.

The bodies "kept coming: the numbers kept rising", Bruno Itan described. Among them were security forces.

A particular victim had been decapitated - while others appeared "completely mutilated", he reported. Numerous victims displayed what he described as knife injuries.

More than 120 people lost their lives during the security action targeting an illegal organization - the most lethal operation in the city.

Bruno Itan stated that residents first notified him to the raid in the early hours by residents from the Alemão area, who sent him messages alerting him gunfire had erupted.

The eyewitness went to the Getúlio Vargas hospital, where the bodies were arriving.

The eyewitness reported that the police stopped members of the press from accessing the Penha neighborhood, where the security measures were occurring.

"Law enforcement personnel formed a line and declared: 'Media representatives cannot proceed beyond this point'."

But Itan, who grew up in that neighborhood, explained he managed to make his way past the security perimeter, where he stayed until the next morning.

He described that Tuesday night, area inhabitants started looking the elevated terrain that separates the Penha neighborhood from the neighboring Alemão community for family members whose whereabouts were unknown following the security action.

Community members from the Penha area proceeded to place the recovered bodies in a square - the photographer's images show the emotions of the people there.

"The brutality of it all shook me profoundly: the pain of the families, mothers fainting, expectant spouses, sobbing, outraged parents," the photographer recalled.

The eyewitness

The governor of Rio state announced that the massive police operation with approximately 2,500 law enforcement members was intended to stopping a gang called the criminal faction from growing their influence.

Initially, the Rio state government stated that "60 suspects along with four officers" had been killed in the operation.

Officials subsequently stated that their "preliminary" count shows that 117 alleged criminals have been killed.

The public legal service, which provides legal assistance to low-income residents, has estimated the overall count of fatalities at 132.

According to researchers, the gang represents the unique criminal entity which in recent years has managed to make territorial gains throughout Rio state.

It is generally regarded as a major illegal faction in Brazil, together with a rival criminal group, featuring a timeline spanning over five decades.

According to correspondent a specialist, who has long reported on illegal operations in Rio extensively, the criminal organization "functions as a network" with neighborhood bosses affiliating with the group and acting as "business partners".

The gang engages primarily in illegal drug trade, but also smuggles firearms, gold, petroleum products, beverages cigarettes.

Based on official reports, criminal affiliates are well armed and police said that throughout the operation, they faced assaults using drone-delivered explosives.

The governor of Rio state, Cláudio Castro, labeled organization participants as criminal extremists and described the law enforcement personnel fatally injured in the action as "heroes".

However, the count of casualties during the raid has received condemnation with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights stating they were "horrified".

At a news conference the next day, Governor Castro supported law enforcement.

"We did not plan to cause fatalities. We wanted to arrest them all alive," he said.

He further explained that the situation worsened due to the alleged criminals resisted aggressively: "It occurred of the counterattack they carried out and the overwhelming response from the gang members."

The governor additionally stated that the casualties presented by community members in the area had been "manipulated".

In a post on social media, he asserted that particular individuals had been removed of tactical gear which he claimed they wore "to transfer accusation toward law enforcement".

A police official from the police department additionally stated that "camouflage clothing, vests, and firearms" were taken away from the casualties and presented video appearing to show a man cutting camouflage clothing {off a corpse