Brazil court says government must compensate victims of stray bullets in police raids

[Judi Lynn]

BY GABRIELA SÁ PESSOA
Updated 2:54 PM CDT, April 12, 2024

SAO PAULO, Brazil (AP) — The Brazilian Supreme Court ruled Thursday that the state must compensate victims of stray bullets during military and law enforcement operations.

The ruling means that the state is now civilly liable for deaths or injuries resulting from either police or armed forces operations, even in cases where the forensics reports are inconclusive.

The country’s top court was ruling in a case stemming from the killing of a man by a stray bullet in 2015 during an army action in Rio de Janeiro’s impoverished Mare neighborhood. The court ordered the federal government to pay 300,000 reais ($60,000) to his family, who will also receive a lifetime pension and have the victim’s funeral expenses covered.

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Brazil registered over 47,000 homicides in 2022, nearly 14% caused by the police, she added. That rate is even higher in Rio de Janeiro state, where the police caused almost 30% of the homicides.

https://apnews.com/article/brazil-stray-bullets-court-decision-725cac168ff5d43db93bf9cf311089cf