"The favelas became concentration camps. There is no health, no education, they are encircled militarily. If you leave, you are shot. It is not a coincidence that the victims of violence are the same victims as always in Brazil: the poor, black, segregated. And mostly youth under the age of 25."
In the interview, Mir spoke of the included and excluded, prevention measures and the need for a complete reform of the police in Brazil.
COAV – The Brazilian middle class did not complain so much of insecurity in the 70s and 80s as they do today. Was Brazil safer then or do the ruling classes only complain when they are affected?
Luís Mir – The social conflicts affecting Brazilian society should be discussed from a social, ethnic and economic perspective, not from a repressive one. The clamour for public safety means that common citizens are joining the State demanding more repressive forces and the remilitarization of society. Contemporary violence has a clear historical continuity: since the Bandeirantes (early Brazilian frontiersman), who killed Indians in exchange for gold, to the "captains of the forests" who kidnapped Africans escaped from the plantations, the combat of racially segregated groups has been continually re-articulated by those in control. As of the 80s and 90s, the drug traffickers became the new social and internal enemy. And their headquarters is the "black" and "dangerous" favela of today.
Do you believe that a non-corrupt police would be the beginning of true change?
Before any plan, project or police action, it is necessary to clean up the Brazilian police. From the top down, at all ranks. A democratic, demilitarised, preventive, multiethnic and pacificistic police would be a formidable internal enemy for the State, and would end the impunity of public and private sectors.
What do you think of the policy of repression in Rio?
The police of Rio de Janeiro are the most lethal in Brazil and in Latin America. According to research by the Centre for the Study of Security and Citizenship of the Universidade Cândido Mendes, 3,815 people were assassinated by the military police between 1995 and 2001. The police of Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo killed 1,295 people in 2002. US policemen, throughout the US, killed 367. The police kill more than they injure. Autopsies of victims prove the excessive use of force and of summary executions. Out of 895 registers of civilians killed by military policemen, only 301 are investigated. Of these, 295 were archived, with only six going to court. Of those six, all were absolved.
What are the possible chances for a youth from a favela to have a dignified future?
The educational system negates access to education, preventing the masses from disputing income, health, housing, work and citizenship. This forms the base of the social pyramid. We have a programmed, social funnel. Suppose that these people are taught to read and write, access basic education and prepare themselves for the job market. There would need to be thousands of professors, millions of jobs, billions in income transferred, among other factors. The crises, lack of access, fall in income, unemployment, food insecurity and lack of medical assistance affect everyone at the same time and equally? Obviously not.
Do you see a solution for violence in Brazil?
The first step is to simultaneously demobilise, disarm and demilitarise groups within and outside of the State. Without this there is the risk of a permanent armed conflict or of civil war becoming accepted as a necessity for the survival of the State. It is problematic to restore peace in societies where there are an abundance of arms in addition to a profound social crisis, as with Brazil. Besides the immediate reconstruction and reform of the state institutions directly involved in the conflict – the armed forces, police, judiciary, prisons, etc. – ending the conflict requires a macroeconomic package that directly benefits those populations penalised by the war and that would act as a transition toward a more long-term development package.
