Brazilian mothers demand reparations after police killings of sons

A group of Brazilian mothers whose sons were killed by police are demanding a nationwide policy to support relatives of victims of state violence and are seeking public funding to finance their activities. Ana Paula Oliveira, whose 19-year-old son was killed by police in a Rio de Janeiro favela in 2014, said founding a group with other grieving mothers saved her life. The nonprofit Crossfire Institute reported 460 people died during police operations in Rio last year, the highest number since 2016 and a 52% increase from the previous year. The mothers have traveled to Brasilia to present their project to the judiciary, legislative and executive branches, with support from the network Raave. Brazilian police have killed more than 6,000 people every year since 2018, according to the Brazilian Forum on Public Safety, which also said 82% of victims of lethal police violence are Black. Some mothers have successfully sought accountability through the courts, including a 2023 case where police officers were sentenced to nine years in prison for one death.

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Sources: abcnews.com