Police are regularly fighting against drug traffickers in the middle of the streets in some of the poorest areas of Rio de Janeiro. Sadly, many innocent bystanders are caught up in the struggle, both in the shootings and the random checkpoints that are set up throughout the cities. In many cases, residents are treated as criminals even though they have nothing to do with the drug trafficking operations.
In response to the constant brutality, residents created a group called, Papo Reto, which is Portuguese for “Straight Talk.” The group basically works as an alternative media organization to document cases of police brutality against the people and spread them to the mainstream media which is locked out of many of these areas by the authorities.
In one incident, a 10-year-old boy named Eduardo de Jesus was killed by police in a shootout, and the organization was able to raise unprecedented awareness about what was going on.
Members of Papo Reto are seen as heroes in their communities and they have sparked a police accountability movement that is quickly growing in Brazil.
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