The number of children used by traffickers is growing.
The total number of minors apprehended by the Rio de Janeiro State Security Secretariat increased by 23,5% between 2010 and 2011; among the 3.466 children and adolescents taken into custody, 82,5% were caught working for drug traffickers, and 18,6% were involved in theft; the unanimous assessment is that the legal protection afforded to minors is being used by criminals to accelerate their recruitment into crime; "It's sad to see this happening," says sociologist Renato Dirk, one of the coordinators of the research; more than 91% of the minors involved are male.
Vladimir Platonow
Reporter from Agência Brasil
Rio de Janeiro – The growing involvement with drug trafficking is one of the factors that have led to a significant increase in the number of apprehensions of children and adolescents in the state of Rio. In 2010, 2.806 young people in conflict with the law were apprehended, a figure that rose to 3.466 in 2011, a growth of 23,5% in just one year. The data is from the Child and Adolescent Dossier, released today (27) by the Institute of Public Security (ISP), an agency linked to the State Secretariat of Public Security.
Of the total number of young people apprehended in 2011, 39,9% were for drug involvement, with 82,5% of them for trafficking. The second most common reason was robbery, accounting for 18,6% of the total, followed by theft, corresponding to 12% of the records. Major Claudia Moraes, one of the coordinators of the survey, said that the increase in arrests is also associated with the trafficking strategy of using children and adolescents due to more lenient penal legislation.
"The fact that adolescents have a different type of legislation in judicial terms favors criminals using this to their advantage. Even in the case of a robbery, the weapon is usually in the possession of an adolescent. It is possible, yes, that this young person could be used by drug traffickers. It is very sad to think that a law made to address the special condition of children and adolescents ends up being used in other ways," said the major, who coordinated the work together with sociologist Renato Dirk.
The ISP survey also outlined a profile of the minors apprehended. According to the data, 78% are mixed-race or black, 71% are between 16 and 17 years old, and 91,8% are male. Regarding their places of residence, 35,3% are from the capital city, 18,6% from the Baixada Fluminense region, 11% from Greater Niterói, and 22% from the interior of the state. In the capital, 41% are from the northern zone, 26,7% from the western zone, 17,5% from the central zone, and 9,8% from the southern zone.
The report also shows that the number of young people who are victims is much higher than the number of offenders. Of the total surveyed, 88,5% were identified as victims of crimes and 11,5% as being in conflict with the law. The four crimes that most victimized minors were intentional bodily harm, threats, unintentional bodily harm, and rape.
Since the beginning of the historical series analyzed, starting in 2005, 1.447 young people up to 17 years of age have been victims of intentional homicides. In 2010, there were 191 murders, a number that rose to 189 in 2011. The full report can be accessed on the ISP website (www.isp.rj.gov.br).
Editing: Aécio Amado