Human Rights body questions Brazil's security model after “Operation Containment” in Rio de Janeiro

The regional body warned of patterns of institutional violence, obstacles to access to justice and possible violations of the right to life in high-risk police operations.

During the first week of March, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) presented its observations to the Federative Republic of Brazil following its visit from December 1 to 6, 2025. The report analyzes the human rights and public security situation in the context of “Operation Containment,” carried out on October 28 in Rio de Janeiro.

In Brasília, the IACHR met with national judicial authorities, executive branch authorities of the state of Rio de Janeiro and civil society organizations. The Commission also met with human rights defenders and experts, who set out their concerns about patterns of institutional violence, difficulties in accessing justice and the disproportionate impact of security operations on the most vulnerable communities. 

The IACHR delegation also heard testimony from relatives of victims of various police operations and visited the Complexo da Penha, where it met with community leaders and relatives of the victims of “Operation Containment.”

Among its conclusions, the IACHR warns of the failure of the state public security paradigm and characterizes “Operation Containment” as a massacre that reveals structural failures in the protection of human rights in Brazil.

The IACHR's findings on the security model

In its report, the Commission states that the punitive paradigm has proven ineffective, since the security model based on high-lethality operations and the militarization of territories has failed to reduce crime, although it has caused tens of thousands of deaths and strengthened criminal organizations through recruitment in precarious prisons.

What the State of Rio de Janeiro called “Operation Containment” was the mobilization of around 2,500 civil and military police officers, with the aim of containing the expansion of the Comando Vermelho and capturing leaders of the criminal factions on October 28. 

However, the operation left more than 120 people dead in the Alemão and Penha complexes, becoming the deadliest action in the city's history. It also created a climate of chaos in the capital of the state of Rio de Janeiro, with major roads blocked, classes suspended and at least 50 buses used as barricades.

For the IACHR, “Operation Containment” marked a milestone of violence, as it was the most recent and extreme expression of a state response that prioritizes physical elimination over the protection of life.

The Commission also stresses that the high lethality was a foreseeable result of the operation's design, and that it was a disproportionate operation. The IACHR further concludes that the events must be investigated as a massacre, suggesting that lethal force was used as a priority even when immobilization was possible

Link to State Responsibility

The IACHR links these conclusions to the Brazilian State's international obligations under the American Convention on Human Rights. The Commission insists that the State is responsible for ensuring that any use of force by its agents strictly complies with the principles of legality, absolute necessity and proportionality. The report concludes that “Operation Containment” violated these standards by using military tactics in residential areas. 

The Commission's document also warns of the State's responsibility for failing in its obligation to investigate promptly, independently and impartially, by allowing the police themselves to collect evidence in cases in which their own officers are involved. It adds that in Rio de Janeiro, 98% of deaths resulting from police violence end up being shelved.

The IACHR report also refers to forensic and expert shortcomings, owing to the failure to preserve crime scenes, the tampering with evidence and the administrative dependence of the Institute of Forensic Medicine (IML) on the Civil Police, which amounts to a breach of the State's judicial guarantees

The Commission further notes that in Brazil there is a marked ethnic-racial bias, with 82% of the victims of police violence being Afro-descendants, which reveals a pattern of discriminatory policing contrary to the State's equality obligations.

The IACHR also sets out recommendations for the State, including reorienting its policy toward human security, guaranteeing the autonomy of forensic bodies and federalizing investigations into police massacres to ensure their independence.

Along the same lines, the Commission insisted on following up on the situation observed and on its recommendations aimed at strengthening accountability, guaranteeing truth and justice for the victims, ensuring their comprehensive reparation and adopting practical and effective measures of non-repetition.

Guillermo Whpei

President of Fundación para la Democracia