The United Nations Human Rights Office expressed horror on October 28, 2025, over a massive police operation in Rio de Janeiro's northern favelas—Complexo do Alemão and Complexo da Penha—that left at least 64 people dead, including four officers, marking the deadliest raid in the city's history. Dubbed Operation Contenção, approximately 2,500 elite civil and military police, backed by helicopters, armoured vehicles, drones, and demolition units, targeted the Comando Vermelho (Red Command) gang's territorial expansion after a year-long probe.

Authorities reported 81 arrests, the seizure of 93 rifles, over half a tonne of drugs, and the neutralisation of 60 suspects who "resisted", though UN spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani urged "prompt and effective investigations" into potential rights violations.

Intense firefights erupted as gang members retaliated with drone-dropped bombs, burning barricades across major highways like Avenida Brasil, and fleeing in armed lines through dense forest trails in Vila Cruzeiro, captured on police drones. The chaos paralysed Rio: 46 schools shut, hospitals overwhelmed, bus routes halted, and even Série B1 soccer matches postponed, evoking the 2010 Alemão occupation but surpassing prior bloodbaths like Jacarezinho (28 dead, 2021) and Vila Cruzeiro (24 dead, 2022). Governor Cláudio Castro hailed it as Rio's largest operation in 15 years, criticising federal inaction, while nine others were wounded, including three bystanders.

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The raid's timing—days before Rio hosts the C40 mayors' summit and Earthshot Prize events tied to COP30 in Belém—drew sharp rebukes from rights groups like Sou da Paz and Human Rights Watch, who decried it as a "tragedy" failing to dismantle gang leadership, merely cycling low-level operatives. Brazil's federal response included an emergency meeting led by Justice Minister Ricardo Lewandowski, with the Public Defenders' Office demanding accountability amid Governor Castro's record under four of Rio's deadliest raids.

As smoke lingered and roads stayed sealed, the operation underscored entrenched favela violence—over 700 police-related deaths last year—pitting security gains against humanitarian costs in Brazil's endless war on drugs.

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