Note from BW of Brazil: The death of a dancer known as DG allegedly by Rio police forces that many would argue are occupying poor neighborhoods has garnered international attention as there are less than 48 days before the World Cup that is scheduled to begin in Brazil in June. Military Police have been responsible for countless murders in Rio’s favelas in what is basically surmounts to a “war on drugs”. Along the way, numerous persons who have nothing to do with drug trafficking have been victimized by police bullets. Orginally, police claimed that DG’s death was the result of a 20-foot fall, but investigative results have confirmed that the dancer was indeed shot. DG’s mother insists that her son was killed after being tortured by the police and has vowed to take the case to Amnesty International. We can only hope that she gets justice as so many poor and black people who are also victims are often treated as simply canon fodder in a senseless policy.
See videos at the bottom in both English and Portuguese.
Civil Police confirm that dancer Douglas Pereira was shot in the back
The dancer died with a shot in the back received during a confrontation between police and drug dealers. The police originally indicated that a 20-foot fall was the cause of death saying they didn’t know where the shot came from.
RIO – The principal delegate of the 13th Precinct (Ipanema region of Rio), Gilberto Ribeiro da Cruz, confirmed on Wednesday afternoon that the dancer Douglas Rafael da Silva Pereira, 26, was hit by a shot. The Civil Police also said, according to a report from the Medical Legal Institute (IML), Douglas’s death was caused by an “internal hemorrhage due to pulmonary laceration from transfixing wound of the chest.” The circumstances of the death, the police say, are still being investigated.
Earlier, after the testimony of Douglas’s mother, Maria de Fátima Silva, at the 13th Precinct, her lawyer, Rodrigo Mondego, had already said that experts indicated that it was a great chance that Douglas had been injured with a bullet.
“They said it’s a great probability, I would say 99% chance, of Douglas having taken a shot,” he said.
On Tuesday, according to another report, the preliminary findings of the Instituto de Criminalística Carlos Éboli (ICCE or Carlos Éboli Institute of Criminology) stated that there were no marks of bullet wounds on Douglas’s body. This expertise, taken in the Creche Escola Lar de Pierina (daycare center) in Pavão-Pavãozinho, the place where his body was found, it was also discovered that there was a trail of blood between the wall where, supposedly, the dancer of the Globo TV program Esquenta, would fallen to the yard of the daycare center.
Douglas’s mother says her son suffered torture
At the police station, Maria de Fátima has appealed to residents of Pavão-Pavãozinho that saw her son being beaten and tortured have the courage and provide testimony at the 13th Precinct in Ipanema. She said that what drew her attention was how he was injured, with purple lips and a cut on the eyebrow. And she requested explanations about Douglas’s death.
“Throughout the night, the neighbors saw coming in and out of Military Police from the daycare that was closed. Some wore surgical gloves. Why was it only at 11 o’clock that the inspection was called?” she asked, remembering that her son’s body and documents were wet.
Mother of dancer will appeal to Amnesty International to clarify death
By Juliana Andrade and Carolina Pimentel
The mother of dancer Douglas Rafael Pereira da Silva, 26, known as DG, Maria de Fátima da Silva said on Thursday (24) that she will appeal to Amnesty International next week so that the death of her son doesn’t become “another Amarildo (case)”. She made reference to the bricklayer assistant Amarildo de Souza, missing since July 14, 2013, after being taken by police of the Unidade de Polícia Pacificadora (UPP or Pacifying Police Unit) in the Rocinha region of Rio for investigation. DG was found dead on Tuesday (22) in pacified community Pavão-Pavãozinho, in the south of the state capital.
“I want this case to be investigated until the end. I’m going to Amnesty International. I’m traveling next week. I will not let it fall into the forgotten. The UPP is a lie, a hoax. They are coming, arming the structure with iron, putting untrained people within it, where the enemy is the population. My son will not become a statistic,” said the nursing technician.
According to the technical nursing, residents of Pavão-Pavãozinho said the police were firing at electric power transformers during the night to leave the favela (slum) without power.
On the evening of Monday (21), UPP officers were checking a complaint that the head of the gang that controls drug sales in Pavão-Pavãozinho was in the community. In the version of the Military Police, while trying to arrive on the the scene, the police were the target of many shots. They fought back, but had to retreat.
At dawn the next day, the body of the dancer was found in a nursery. According to the Coordinator of Pacifying Police (CPP), the police didn’t know that the boy was killed and only later discovered the body, along with experts from the Civil Police. An investigative procedure was initiated by the CPP and should hear a dozen police who were involved in the shooting.
The Civil Police confirmed on the 23rd that the dancer was hit by a shot. The information was disclosed by the titular of Ipanema Precinct (13th Precinct), Gilberto Ribeiro. According to decision of IML, the young man died from internal bleeding due “pulmonary laceration from a transfixing wound of the chest.”
Speaking to reporters, the Secretary of Security of Rio de Janeiro, José Mariano Beltrame, said he is monitoring the investigation into the death of the dancer. “We will follow up with full rigor, submit [the results] to society with all transparency. I want these investigations done rapidly because it is essential for us to continue this work [of UPP], which now serves 9 million people, with 9,000 policemen who are in areas historically dominated by traffic.”
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