More Rio slum raids planned despite criticism

RIO DE JANEIRO, June 29 (Reuters) Police will stage more raids in Rio de Janeiro's violent slums despite criticism of an operation this week in which 19 people were killed, authorities said today.

''We'd like to win this war without bloodshed, without fatal victims, but the criminal groups are militarized and we have to do our job to win,'' said Gov. Sergio Cabral.

''Errors in the operations have to be corrected, but they (raids) will continue.'' More than 1,300 police took part in a raid on Wednesday against drug traffickers in the Alemao favela. Authorities said the dead were traffickers but human rights groups said at least half were innocent youths and called the action a massacre.

The bloodshed occurred just two weeks before the start of the Pan American Games in the crime-ridden city, which is eager to showcase its attractions.

State Public Security Secretary Jose Beltrame said in an interview in the O Globo daily they planned similar operations in other Rio slums controlled by well-armed drug gangs, including the Rocinha slum, one of Latin America's largest, and the City of God, made famous by the film of the same name.

''Slum residents are at the mercy of a parallel state, where criminals dictate their will,'' Beltrame said.

The human rights commission of the Rio lawyers' association has demanded an investigation of the Alemao raid, where residents accused police of summary executions, killings of innocent civilians and looting.

A joint statement from groups, including Global Justice and the lawyers' group, said using military tactics to fight organized crime and drug trafficking has not succeeded.

''Society cannot support a public security policy that criminalizes poverty and disrespects human rights,'' it said.

Global Justice director Sandra Carvalho said rights groups hoped to convince Beltrame at a meeting next week to give up on war-style raids. They also seek the justice ministry's help and may appeal to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights.

Today, seven schools that had been shut for two days reopened in Alemao but few children showed up. Security forces still guarded the slum's entrances, rifles at hand and clad in flak jackets.

''What can we do, we have to get used to it,'' said a 42-year-old woman selling fruit in drizzling rain next to a checkpoint.

The violence stoked concerns about public safety during the Pan American Games starting on July 13, which will bring 5,500 athletes and about 800,000 tourists to the city. Rio is also a venue for the global Live Earth concerts July 7.

Reuters KK VP0245