Brazil’s Minister of Human Rights, Macaé Evaristo, has sharply condemned the police operation in Rio de Janeiro that killed at least 132 people, describing it as a “failure,” “abominable,” and “a horror” for exposing innocent people to deadly risk.

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The joint raid by Civil and Military Police—known as Operation Containment—was launched on Tuesday in the Penha and Alemão favela complexes. Authorities said the operation aimed to halt the expansion of the Comando Vermelho, one of Brazil’s largest criminal networks. Police reported seizing 118 firearms, detaining more than 80 people, and recovering large quantities of drugs.

Evaristo’s remarks directly contradicted those of Rio’s conservative governor, Cláudio Castro, who hailed the offensive as “a success.” “Except for the lives of the police officers [killed], everything else was a success,” Castro said at a press conference, insisting the raid was necessary to ensure security ahead of international events scheduled in the city.

Witnesses described scenes resembling a war zone—streets strewn with bodies, prolonged gunfire, explosions, and police helicopters circling overhead. Residents told local media that dozens of corpses were retrieved from wooded areas by neighbors searching for relatives.

The scale of the killings drew immediate condemnation from human rights groups and the United Nations. The UN Office of Human Rights said it was “horrified” by the magnitude of the violence and urged Brazilian authorities to carry out “an immediate and independent investigation.”

Evaristo met for more than two hours with community leaders and families of the victims at the headquarters of the Central Única das Favelas (CUFA), close to Vila Cruzeiro, where residents displayed about 80 recovered bodies. “We have received a demand from the community for independent and autonomous forensic investigations. Our National Human Rights Council has already informed us, and we are working to make it happen,” she told reporters, according to Agência Brasil.

She announced that an emergency inter-ministerial commission—bringing together representatives from the Ministries of Health, Education, Social Welfare, Racial Equality, and Women—will respond to community demands for psychosocial assistance, public services, and employment programs. “The community, besides presenting all the pain of this process, also made a call for peace, but demands rights: the right to education, health, assistance, and especially dignified work for young people,” she said.

Minister of Racial Equality Anielle Franco, who attended the meeting, added that “no dead body should ever be acceptable,” reinforcing the criticism of police lethality in poor neighborhoods.

In Brasília, Justice Minister Ricardo Lewandowski questioned the legality of the operation, saying President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva was “dismayed” by the scale of the killings and “surprised” that the federal government had not been informed in advance. “The operation was extremely bloody, particularly violent. We will see whether it is compatible with the democratic rule of law,” Lewandowski said before traveling to Rio to meet with local officials.

Brazil has a long history of high-casualty police raids in favelas, often carried out ahead of major global events. Authorities have denied that this latest operation is connected to the upcoming COP30-related gatherings in Rio, including the C40 Mayors Summit and the Earthshot Prize ceremony.

The neighboring Argentine government announced a “maximum alert” along its borders with Brazil in response to the scale of the violence. “We are going to set up an alert system so that no one involved in the Rio conflict crosses the border,” said Argentina’s Security Minister Patricia Bullrich.

With more than 130 people killed, Operation Containment stands as the deadliest police action in Rio’s history—reigniting long-standing criticism of Brazil’s militarized approach to public security and its disproportionate impact on marginalized communities.

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