Amnesty International USA Highlights Lethal Systemic Racism and Police Brutality in Brazil

Report Exposes Deep-Rooted Issues

Amnesty International USA has published a comprehensive report, 'Brazil on Alert: Police Brutality and Lethal Systemic Racism,' drawing attention to the severe and ongoing human rights crisis faced by Black people in Brazil. The report, released on September 29, 2025, underscores how a racialized public security system, fueled by historical inequality and impunity, disproportionately targets Afro-descendant communities, particularly young Black men in favelas and underserved neighborhoods.

Alarming Statistics and Disparities

The findings presented in the report paint a stark picture of violence and discrimination:

• In 2024, a Black person was killed every 12 minutes in Brazil, according to data from the Atlas da Violência 2024.
• More than 5,000 cases of racism and racial slurs were reported to Brazil's national human rights hotline (Disque 100) in 2025 alone.
• Approximately 70% of Brazil's prison population is Black, indicating a significant overrepresentation.
• Nearly 73% of individuals residing in under-resourced, high-vulnerability areas in Brazil are Black.
• Between 2000 and 2021, a staggering 90% of racial injury complaints failed to result in formal indictment, despite legal reforms.

These figures are consistent with broader trends, with the Brazilian Public Security Forum reporting 6,393 deaths by police in 2023, of which 82.7% were Black and 71.7% were young people. Another study from 2023 found that in 2022, 65% of people killed by police in eight Brazilian states were Black, a proportion that rose to 87% when only victims with specified skin color were considered.

Systemic Impunity and Lack of Accountability

The report emphasizes that the violence is not isolated but rather a consequence of a deeply entrenched system. Amnesty International highlights that police oversight bodies and the public prosecutor's office frequently fail to conduct independent investigations into police killings. Cases are often misclassified as 'acts of resistance' or 'homicides resulting from police intervention,' effectively masking extrajudicial executions. This lack of accountability perpetuates a cycle of violence and impunity, leaving victims and their families without justice.

The organization has documented numerous instances of alleged extrajudicial killings, including the cases of Kathlen Romeu, a 24-year-old pregnant Black woman killed by a 'stray bullet' during a police operation in 2021; Marcelo Barbosa, a young Black man reportedly thrown off a bridge by officers; Ágatha Vitória Félix, an 8-year-old Black girl fatally shot by military police in 2019; and Ryan da Silva Andrade, a 4-year-old killed by a stray bullet later confirmed to be from military police in 2021.

Calls for Urgent International Solidarity

Amnesty International USA urges international human rights observers and institutions to recognize police brutality in Brazil as a form of structural racial violence and to demand independent investigations into police killings in Black-majority communities. The organization stresses the need to center Brazil's Afro-descendant majority in policy, funding, and protection mechanisms, advocating for urgent international solidarity to address this critical human rights crisis.