Addressing Gaps in Police Accountability for Killings of Black Youth in Brazil: Legal Narratives and Social Contexts

The project is based on an in-depth analysis of six case studies of police violence, and examines how structural racism expresses  itself in the underlying narratives of the legal system on these cases, which should lead to concrete recommendations on how to address the obstacles to police accountability and the access to justice for black victims of police violence.

After selecting the six case studies, we will:

1) collect information on the selected cases from court files and through in-depth interviews with officials, activists, individuals in the victims' circle of relationships, as well as family members;

2) rebuild the social context of the selected cases, based on media coverage and interviews with black organizations;

3) rebuild the socio-legal narrative underlying the selected cases;

4) produce an online memorial for victims and their families, as well as podcasts that tell (and perpetuate) the cases studied; and

5) suggest key recommendations to address gaps in police accountability for black people murders in Brazil.

Team:

Coordination:

Paulo César Ramos (Perseu Abramo Foundation/Afro Cebrap)

Researchers

Juliana Farias (post-doctoral student in Anthropology at Unicamp)

Poliana Ferreira

Larissa Margarido

Julia Goldani

Andressa Vieira e Silva (Ph.D. student in Linguistics at USP)

Inara Firmino (Master in Law from FDRP-USP)

Sofia Toledo (Bachelor of Social Sciences from USP)