**Police Fail to Conduct Crucial Investigations into Deadly Rio de Janeiro Raid, Human Rights Watch Reports**
*(São Paulo)* – Police have failed to take crucial investigative steps to determine the circumstances surrounding the killing of at least 121 people, including 4 police officers, during a raid in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on October 28, 2025, Human Rights Watch said today. The raid affected low-income, primarily Black neighborhoods.
Police did not preserve crime scenes for analysis—a vital step to determine the circumstances of death. A Rio de Janeiro forensic expert told Human Rights Watch that, to their knowledge, forensic experts who are part of the civil police in Rio de Janeiro state have not conducted crime scene analyses in any of the killings. A state prosecutor confirmed that their office is waiting to verify but shares the same understanding.
> “The families of the people killed in the October 28 raid, including those of police officers, deserve to know the circumstances of their loved ones’ deaths,” said César Muñoz, Brazil director at Human Rights Watch. “We are very concerned that crucial investigative steps were not taken and that important evidence may have already been lost.”
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### Deadly Raid and Immediate Aftermath
In the early hours of October 28, about 2,500 heavily armed military and civil police, supported by armored vehicles and helicopters, entered the vast Alemão and Penha neighborhoods, targeting one of Brazil’s most powerful drug-trafficking groups. Intense shootouts lasted for hours.
Later that day, officials reported that 64 people had been killed, including 4 police officers. The following day, residents found scores of additional bodies in a nearby wooded area.
The military police secretary told a news conference that police had pushed members of the criminal group toward the wooded area, a known escape route for gang members. At the top of the hills in that area, the elite military police unit, BOPE, had established a “wall” of agents waiting for the fleeing suspects.
A resident, speaking to Brazilian press, shared a heartbreaking account of her son, who sent her his location and expressed a desire to surrender but feared police would kill him. His body was later found in the wooded area.
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### Crime Scene and Evidence Handling Failures
The forensic expert indicated police recovered weapons from the deceased but then left the scene. On October 29, residents moved scores of bodies from the wooded area to a square in the Penha neighborhood.
Reporters who visited the site found critical unguarded evidence—blood spatters, bullet casings, and clothing—left unattended.
> “We recognize the inherent difficulties of a wooded area, but the lack of control over the preservation of the site is surprising,” said the Rio de Janeiro state attorney general.
The civil police secretary, who leads the state force responsible for investigating crimes, said an investigation was opened against residents who moved the bodies, accusing them of potentially tampering with evidence and removing clothing from the deceased. However, Human Rights Watch noted that residents only gained access because police failed to secure the scene.
Moreover, the forensic expert revealed that civil police leadership did not deploy forensic experts to conduct crime scene analysis. Crime scene investigations should occur even after bodies are moved, as other evidence might remain onsite.
Forensic experts were also not sent to the square where residents had relocated the bodies—a significant investigative failure. Forensic personnel should have photographed and collected evidence there, including gunshot residue samples that can indicate if a person fired a weapon. Such residue is often lost when a body is handled or transported.
Firefighters collected the bodies from the square and transported them to the morgue. Medical examiners are conducting autopsies; however, concerns exist regarding limited personnel, infrastructure, and chronic underinvestment in the state’s forensic services.
The state Public Defender’s Office reported that civil police did not permit its staff to be present during the autopsies. Several civil society organizations, including Human Rights Watch, requested on October 30 that Rio de Janeiro’s attorney general ensure that victims’ representatives are present during autopsies. This has not occurred.
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### Mishandling of Seized Weapons
Police reported seizing 118 weapons. These weapons should have been kept under strict chain of custody protocols—in sealed bags—and sent for forensic fingerprint and ballistic analysis. Instead, civil police presented the weapons to the press, where television footage showed police and reporters handling guns and equipment without gloves.
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### Legal Framework and Calls for Reform
In a 2017 ruling related to Rio de Janeiro, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights ordered Brazil to ensure investigations into police abuses are conducted by “an independent body, distinct from the police force involved,” assisted by unrelated forensic and administrative staff.
The Brazilian Supreme Court ruled that the Public Prosecutor’s Office should lead investigations when there is “suspicion” of law enforcement involvement in unlawful killings. The Court emphasized the importance of preserving crime scenes to collect evidence and ordered Rio de Janeiro police to use body cameras.
However, the military police secretary told reporters that body camera batteries may have run out during the operation, meaning “images may have been lost.”
Furthermore, Resolution 310, adopted by the National Council of Prosecutors on April 29, 2025, mandates that the Public Prosecutor’s Office open criminal investigations into all police killings, assisted by independent forensic experts. It also requires preserving the integrity of evidence and adhering to the Minnesota Protocol, a set of international guidelines referenced by the Supreme Court.
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### Federal Support and Context
On October 30, the Justice Ministry announced it would deploy 20 federal police forensic experts to assist with crime scene and ballistics analyses, as well as autopsies.
Official data show that Rio de Janeiro police killed 703 people in 2024 and another 470 from January through August 2025. Of those killed in 2024, 86 percent were Black.
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### Human Rights Watch Statement
> “Brazilian authorities should ensure a prompt, thorough, and independent investigation of each killing as well as the decisions and planning that led to such a disastrous operation,” Muñoz said.
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> “This case also highlights the urgent need for Rio de Janeiro’s governor to introduce a bill that separates forensic services from the civil police and invests in independent, high-quality forensic analysis—a key part of any criminal investigation, not just in cases of police killings.”
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*Human Rights Watch continues to monitor the situation closely and calls for accountability and justice for the victims and their families.*
https://www.hrw.org/news/2025/10/31/brazil-serious-investigative-failures-in-deadly-rio-raid