Conectas and Public Defender’s Office discuss Crimes of May from 2006

05/09/2011

On May 17, Conectas Human Rights and the Citizenship and Human Rights Center of the São Paulo State Public Defender’s Office will deliver a lecture entitled “Crimes of May: 2006/2011”. The event will be attended by Marcos Fuchs, director of Conectas; Débora Maria da Silva, of the Mothers of May Movement; and representatives of the State Public Defender’s Office and the State Public Security Department. See the program in Portuguese.

The event commemorates the sad and tragic deaths that occurred during the month of May 2006 in the state of São Paulo, and emphasizes that the cases of executions have not yet been settled by the courts a full five years later.

The violence between May 12 and 21, 2006, has been etched into the history of Brazil given the climate of insecurity that prevailed in many of the cities in the state of São Paulo. The period has become known as the “Bloody Week” and was marked by violent attacks staged by the Primeiro Comando da Capital (PCC) – the First Capital Command, a Sao Paulo-based prison gang – and also by the excessive use of force by the police and the activities of death squads.

In the first six days, 59 police officers were killed. Attacks were mounted against police stations, police vehicles and other public buildings, and riots erupted in prisons across the state. These actions were attributed to the PCC.

The police responded to the attacks. In that same week, 492 people were killed by gunfire in the state São Paulo, according to data from the São Paulo Regional Council of Medicine (CRM). Of this total, 163 deaths were recorded in the city of São Paulo, which represented an increase of 52% in relation to the same period in the years from 2000 to 2004. (See the report “Analysis of the impacts of the PCC attacks in São Paulo" in Portuguese).

Five years later, the cases of executions remain uninvestigated. No inquiry has ever been conducted into these deaths, nor have any agents of the state been brought to trial or held accountable for their actions. As a result, the families of the victims still have no answers, while society has once again been left to endure impunity.

Crimes of May: 2006/2011
Venue: Auditorium of the São Paulo State Public Defender’s Office
Rua Boa Vista, 200 - Centro – São Paulo (SP)
Time: 7 PM to 10 PM

Registrations will be accepted until May 13 by email eventoedepe2@defensoria.sp.gov.br