AN ENTIRE FAMILY SHATTERED
That Monday (9) had been of work and expectations for Marcone and Dayvison’s family. Marcone’s father, who owned the shrimp farm, had already negotiated the sale of what he produced during that season. The harvest would be done the next day. The ice had been purchased and was packed inside Styrofoam boxes. Everything was set to receive and conserve the shrimp that would be removed from fresh water. The buyer was already waiting to transport the fresh merchandise.
Marcone and Dayvison’s function that dawn would be to “watch” the shrimp pond and be on the lookout in case the water level dropped too low in one of the reservoirs, which could lead to the death of crustaceans. Late that night, the BOPE (Batalhão de Operações Policiais Especiais – Special Police Operations Battalion) would launch an operation, together with the Civil Police, whose objective was to intercept the transfer of a shipment of marijuana.
“AND THAT'S WHAT I SAY: WHILE I HAVE LIFE, I WILL ASK FOR JUSTICE FOR MY SON. BECAUSE I BEAT MY CHEST AND I SAY, MY SON IS INNOCENT"
– Verônica, Deyvison’s mother
The official report of the military police did not convince the professionals who worked in the inquiry that investigated the circumstances of the two deaths. The police said that the operation to combat drug trafficking had been mounted on the basis of information passed on by a man who had been arrested and later informed that on that day and location there would be a drug transaction. But this piece of information is not included in the detained suspect’s testimony.
In the investigation, the Civil Police produced and gathered elements that it considered sufficient to indict five BOPE officers for the double murder that killed the uncle and his nephew. The Residuographic exam of the Institute of Criminalistics (IC) did not find any residue of lead or gunpowder in the hands of the victims.
The expertise diverges from the report of the BOPE officers, as it identified signs of violence in Marcone’s body in a detailed result presented. “Presence of bruises and ecchymosis all over the body: on the face, upper right and lower right lips, as well as on the internal mucosa of this region, bilateral periorbital ecchymosis, facial and bipalpebral edema, anterior aspect of the abdomen, chest, back, lower limbs. Edema and asymmetry of the face to the right in the malar region, suggesting external injuries of violence”
In conclusion, the Institute of Forensic Medicine report stated: “In view of the above, I conclude that the death was caused by internal bleeding from the abdomen by a penetrating wound produced by firearm projectiles. Other diagnoses: cranial, encephalic and facial trauma by a blunt instrument.”
A video filmed by cell phone by neighborhood residents in the location where the uncle and his nephew were killed the day after the action shows bloodstains on the muddy ground, footprints of shoes, scattered pieces of clothing that the victims wore that night and a piece of bone that appears to be from the cranial region.
The material, to which the report had access, was passed on to the Civil Police. It’s been a year since their deaths occurred and no complaint has been filed by the Public Prosecutor’s Office of Pernambuco (MPPE – Ministério Público de Pernambuco) for the double murder.
At the moment, new steps are still being requested for the investigation. And the military police officers who participated in that operation are still active. If the Public Prosecutor’s Office of Pernambuco decides to denounce the security agents, they officially become defendants, having to go to a popular jury.
The report asked the Department of Social Defense (SDS) for information on the progress of investigations into the deaths of his uncle and nephew in the Ministry’s Internal Affairs. In response, he received information that no procedure had been opened in the internal instance of the body “since there was a military police inquiry under investigation within the scope of the Military Police”.
MOBILIZATION TO
ENSURE JUSTICE
Even though deeply emotionally affected, Marcone and Dayvison’s family is committed to continuing to demand accountability from those who participated in the police operation that resulted in the death of their loved ones.
Recently, family and friends marched to the MPPE headquarters in Itamaracá. The starting point was the community of Chié, where the double murder took place. Wearing white shirts with a print of the victims’ faces and banners calling for justice, the procession continued through the city centre. The act aroused people’s attention and anger. “That was that case of the uncle and nephew, right? Cowardly what they did to them. In this Brazil, my son, justice was not made for the poor”, says a woman, addressing the reporter. Two corners ahead, two young men seated on the doorstep of a pharmacy are talking. “Do you think that something will happen to them (police officers)?” asks one of them. “I very much doubt it”, he adds. The case turned one year old in November.
If it depends on Veronica, Dayvison’s mother, the demand for justice will only cease when justice is done. “And that’s what I say: as long as I have life, I will be asking for justice for my son. Because I hit my chest and say: my son is innocent,” she states.
At the inquest, the men who sold the ice to Dayvison’s grandfather and who were going to buy the shrimp were also heard. “It’s proof that they were working there. Watching the shrimp pond for a withdrawal”, points out Veronica.
DRUG POLICY
LEGITIMIZES LETHAL VIOLENCE
For the lawyer Maria Clara D’Ávila, the performance of BOPE at the time can be considered disastrous: it did not dismantle any criminal organization, did not intercept drug shipments and even culminated in the death of two innocent people.
“Today what we have structured in Brazil is a drug policy that, historically, determines the functioning of both the criminal justice system and the public security forces. This is what drug policy does: it legitimizes the death of certain people, whether they are involved in drugs or not, because they lived and worked in criminalized places”, she analyzes.