Amnesty scolds Brazil over tough response to crime

RIO DE JANEIRO, May 2 (Reuters) Amnesty International today criticized Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's support for sending troops to fight rampant crime in Rio de Janeiro and his calls for tough steps to curb violence.

The London-based human rights group also warned of a ''Balkanization'' of Brazilian cities where drug gangs, death squads and paramilitary groups battle in the slums.

Military-style police raids only contributed to the suffering of residents instead of protecting them, it said.

''The cities of Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo have come to a tragic impasse. Gangs of criminals ... rush to fill in the void left by the state,'' Amnesty said in a report.

It said providing normal public services to the slums, including humane policing, should be a government priority.

Amnesty said Lula's call for tough measures after a wave of gang attacks and bus torchings in Rio betrayed his own proposals to reform the public security system with a focus on human rights.

About 20 people were killed in a wave of violence in December, including seven burned alive in a bus.

Shootouts between police and drug gangs occur almost daily in Rio, which has a murder rate of over 40 per 100,000 people -- one of the highest in Latin America.

''The promises of reform seem to have been long forgotten, criminal violence has evolved, presenting more and more complex problems,'' the report said.

It criticized Lula's support for Rio state Gov Sergio Cabral's request to send in the military to fight the gangs.

Amnesty proposed a policing system based on UN principles on the use of force and firearms by law enforcement bodies to reduce killings by police, now at over 1,000 per year in Rio.

The group also called for widespread reforms to the penitentiary system and measures to weed out widespread corruption in police ranks.

Amnesty said Cabral, who took office in January, had made some positive statements calling for reforms. But his call for troops and support for police raids and occupation of the vast Alemao slum complex in February and March caused concern.

''Police strategy is still characterized by brutal repression. It remains to be seen whether Cabral will have the political will to implement fundamental changes within the police force in the state,'' it said.

The government is due to decide on the troop deployment some time in May. Amnesty said it would weaken those in the government working for an effective solution of the problem.

Experts say troops are not trained to police urban areas, which could make their deployment ineffective or dangerous.

Reuters RS DB2347