On September 20, 2024, the São Paulo Shock Battalion, a military police unit also known as Grupo de Ações Táticas Especiais (GATE), used stun grenades and forcibly removed students who had been occupying a building at the University of the State of Rio de Janeiro (UERJ). Three students were arrested.
On July 27, a group of UERJ students organized a sit-in at the João Lyra Filho Pavilion, the main building on the campus, to protest budget cuts to services and financial assistance to students. The changes went into effect on August 1. The sit-in continued for nearly two months.
Between July and September, the university’s rector and students held several negotiation meetings. On September 16, after the negotiations failed, a local court imposed a daily fine of R$10,000 (approximately $551.52 USD) on the students until they dispersed, and ordered the removal of students with the “use of sufficient and necessary police force to completely evacuate the [university] buildings.”
On September 20, after the students refused to leave the building by the court’s deadline, the military police entered the building. According to the police, students threw sticks and stones and the police responded by deploying stun grenades. According to Rodrigo Mondego, a prosecutor for the Rio de Janeiro People’s Human Rights Commission, the students did not resist their removal. The police arrested three students, along with Glauber Braga, a Federal Deputy or member of Brazil’s National Congress.
Scholars at Risk is concerned about the presence of military police on campus and the use of disproportionate force against students exercising their rights to freedom of assembly and freedom of expression–conduct which is protected by international human rights instruments, including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Brazil is a party. While state authorities have the responsibility to maintain order and prevent disruption, they must refrain from the disproportionate use of force and endangerment of civilians. Additionally, students and members of the public must refrain from violence and destruction, especially on campus. Such actions, beyond harming the immediate victims, have a chilling effect on academic freedom and undermine democratic society generally.
Sources:
*SAR identified this incident in data made publicly available by the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED)
https://oglobo.globo.com/rio/noticia/2024/09/20/justica-autoriza-uso-de-forca-policial-para-desocupar-uerj-caso-manifestantes-se-recusem-a-deixar-campus-de-forma-pacifica.ghtml
https://oglobo.globo.com/rio/noticia/2024/09/19/manifestantes-descumprem-ordem-judicial-e-tentativa-de-desocupacao-acaba-em-confusao-no-campus-da-uerj-no-maracana.ghtml
https://g1.globo.com/rj/rio-de-janeiro/noticia/2024/09/20/justica-determina-desocupacao-da-uerj.ghtml
https://agenciabrasil.ebc.com.br/justica/noticia/2024-09/uerj-e-desocupada-em-meio-conflito-entre-policiais-e-estudantes
https://agenciabrasil.ebc.com.br/geral/noticia/2024-09/glauber-braga-e-tres-estudantes-sao-liberados-da-cidade-da-policia