A Glimmer of Hope in Police Killings Cases in Brazil
News: 8/5/2025
On May 7, Brazil’s National Council of Prosecutors (CNMP, in Portuguese) published a resolution that seeks to improve investigations into police abuse, including killings by police.
Every year, Brazilian police officers kill more than 6,000 people, with people of African descent being three times more likely to become a victim than white individuals. Human Rights Watch has documented how inadequate investigations into those killings result in impunity for abuses in Brazil. A major reason is that the police investigate themselves. There were some changes last month.
On April 3, Brazil’s Supreme Court ordered prosecutors to lead investigations whenever there is “suspicion” of the involvement of law enforcement agents in an unlawful killing. Then, on April 29, the CNMP passed a resolution that detailed how prosecutors should carry out those investigations. The resolution was published on May 7. For many years, Human Rights Watch has sought a change in Brazil’s law to ensure thorough, independent investigations into police killings and made several other recommendations.
The Supreme Court decision, along with stating that prosecutors lead investigations, incorporated several other HRW recommendations. These included requiring the preservation of evidence in accordance with international standards, improving data on police violence, expanding the use of body-worn and patrol car cameras, and strengthening mental health support for police officers.
In addition, the resolution said prosecutors should also open their own investigations, instead of solely relying on the police investigation, into cases of sexual violence, torture, and other abuses by law enforcement when there is “serious or systematic violations of fundamental rights.” This language is a setback compared to the original draft language, which called for prosecutor-led investigations into all such cases, without any conditions.
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