Court suspends Operation Summer on Rio de Janeiro’s waterfront

The Court of Justice of Rio de Janeiro (TJRJ), through the 1st Court for Children, Youth and the Elderly of the Capital, suspended Operation Summer, which was scheduled to begin this Saturday (7), according to the schedule of the city government. The decision opens another chapter in the controversy involving the approach of teenagers who frequent beaches in the southern part of the city.

According to the TJRJ, the suspension was in response to a request from the Rio de Janeiro Public Prosecutor’s Office (MPRJ), which pointed out a violation of a self-composition agreement approved on August 9. This is an agreement that provides for the formulation of a plan before any action aimed at approaching adolescents is put into practice. According to the decision, a meeting was scheduled to address the issue, but city representatives did not attend.

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“A conciliation hearing was scheduled for October 10. According to the decision, the state and municipality must refrain from arresting and taking minors – except in cases of flagrant infraction by written and substantiated order of a judicial authority –, according to an agreement approved by the Supreme Federal Court”, informed the TJRJ in a note.

Wanted by Brazil Agencythe city government reported that it has already submitted a request for reconsideration to the 1st Court for Children, Youth and the Elderly of the Capital. “In addition to Rio de Janeiro’s city government having complied with all the requirements, it has made itself available to the institutions involved to carry out the alignment established in the judicial agreement.”

Controversy

Operation Summer refers to actions that have been implemented in recent years by the city of Rio de Janeiro and the state government, which include preventive patrols, inspections and urban planning on Rio’s beaches. Last year, the constant apprehension of teenagers became the center of a legal dispute.

The actions of the government were considered illegal by the Public Defender’s Office of Rio de Janeiro (DPRJ) and the Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office (MPF). In December 2023, the 1st Court for Children, Youth and the Elderly of the Capital prohibited the arrest of adolescents in situations other than when caught in the act of committing an offense or by written court order. The decision was later overturned by the president of the Court of Justice (TJRJ), judge Ricardo Rodrigues Cardozo, in response to appeals from the city and the state.

In response, the DPRJ took the case to the Supreme Federal Court (STF)claiming that Operation Summer was a social containment measure aimed at removing children and adolescents from the most exclusive areas of Rio de Janeiro. In a complaint filed with the Court, a violation of a previous decision was pointed out. In 2019, in the judgment of Direct Action of Unconstitutionality (ADI) No. 3,446, the ministers of the STF guaranteed the right of adolescents to come and go and considered illegal the apprehensions only for investigation and for wandering when they were unaccompanied or without money.

“During Operation Summer, buses are stopped when they arrive in the south zone. And poor young people, mostly black, are removed from there. They are checked to see if these young people have any arrest warrants against them and, even though they have no outstanding charges, they are not being allowed to return to the buses and go to the beach. They are being forcibly taken to reception centers, where they spend the entire day. Until their parents, often without money to pay the fare, have to travel there to release them,” said public defender André Castro at the time.

In February of this year, the STF went so far as to prohibit the seizure again of children and adolescents without a court order or evidence of an infraction. The decision was made in a conciliation hearing in which the state government and the city government committed to presenting a social approach plan within 60 days that would not violate constitutional rights.