Riot in Copacabana demands answers about Amarildo’s disappearance

Ten years after the death and disappearance of Amarildo Dias de Souza, the non-governmental organization (NGO) Rio de Paz held a demonstration this Thursday (13), in front of the Copacabana Palace, in the south zone of Rio de Janeiro. Protesters demanded that the government of the state of Rio de Janeiro be held accountable for Amarildo’s disappearance and explanations about the other missing people in the state who, according to the NGO, reach 5,000 per year. “Murder followed by hiding a corpse is something that is part of everyday life in the state of Rio de Janeiro,” said Rio de Paz founder Antonio Carlos Costa. “We are facing a scandal, government agents kill a Brazilian citizen, hide his body and we live in a city full of clandestine cemeteries. It’s barbarism. How not to protest?”, he added. According to Costa, it is necessary not only for the state to position itself in relation to specific cases, but also for effective changes in the security policy. Ten years after the death and disappearance of Amarildo Dias de Souza, the NGO Rio de Paz holds a protest in the south zone of Rio – Tânia Rêgo/Agência Brasil 2013, after being detained by military police and taken from the door of his house in Favela da Rocinha, south of Rio, towards the headquarters of the Pacifying Police Unit in the neighborhood. According to Justice, he was tortured and killed by police and his body was never found. In all, 25 officers were prosecuted. One of them died before the decision was reached, and 12 were convicted of kidnapping, torture, death and hiding Amarildo’s corpse. None is arrested and six are still working in the police. “This date marks an embarrassment for Amarildo’s family because it is ten years since Amarildo’s disappearance, ten years that we have been waiting for a response from Justice and Justice does not give an answer to the family, and ten years since Amarildo’s remains disappeared. . We didn’t bury his body,” said widow Elizabete Gomes da Silva. In the act, ten mannequins covered by a white fabric were exposed in the sand of Copacabana Beach, a postcard of the city of Rio. The mannequins remember the ten years without a response for Amarildo’s disappearance and also the number of missing persons per week throughout the state. Also this Thursday, at 8 pm, Rio de Paz will release the documentary Where are you?, which tells the story of Amarildo, his family and also other people who have gone through and still go through the same situation. *With information from TV Brasil

Agência Brasil