The Amarildo case sheds light on disappearances in Goiás.

Alex Rodrigues
Reporter Agência Brasil

Brasilia While citizens and human rights organizations demand that authorities in Rio de Janeiro clarify what happened to bricklayer Amarildo de Souza, who disappeared 23 days ago, Maria das Graças Soares, a housewife from Goiânia, has been fighting almost alone for eight years to find out the whereabouts of her son, Murilo Soares. The boy is one of 39 people who, according to social organizations defending human rights, disappeared after being approached by military police in the metropolitan region of Goiânia in recent years.

"I also wanted to know where my son is. I wanted the government officials, the authorities, to help me too," Maria das Graças told Agência Brasil. "There are 39 families of missing persons after police encounters who still haven't received answers," commented the housewife, referring to the numbers partially revealed last year in a report by the Human Rights Commission of the Legislative Assembly of Goiás.

Amarildo, a resident of Rocinha, disappeared on July 14th of this year after being taken by military police to the Pacifying Police Unit (UPP) in the community, in the São Conrado neighborhood, in the southern zone of Rio. The case generated protests from Rocinha residents, which were later joined by other segments of Rio de Janeiro society. After reaching social media, the question "Where is Amarildo?" attracted the attention of the Brazilian and international press. Meanwhile, the case of Murilo and the other 38 alleged victims of the Goiás police approach are attracting less and less attention from the public. 

Murilo was 12 years old when, on April 22, 2005, police officers from the Metropolitan Tactical Patrol Unit (Rotam) stopped the car driven by 21-year-old laborer Paulo Sérgio Pereira Rodrigues. At the request of his father (who, at the time, was already separated from Graça), Murilo was returning home in a car with Paulo. Several people witnessed the moment when the police searched the driver while the boy remained standing next to the vehicle. It was the last time Murilo and Paulo were seen. The car was found the next day, burned and without its sound system and wheels. The bodies of the two occupants, however, were never found. Paulo had a criminal record.

Eight police officers accused of robbery resulting in death and concealment of a corpse were acquitted by the Goiás court due to lack of material evidence. The Public Prosecutor's Office appealed the sentence, and the state court overturned the verdict, deciding to take the officers to a jury trial for double aggravated homicide and concealment of corpses. Due to lack of evidence, this new decision was also overturned, and the new trial did not take place.

Eight years later, Maria das Graças says she has lost hope that anyone will be punished for her son's disappearance. No longer believing the boy is alive, she says she only holds onto the hope of giving her son a dignified burial. "My expectation is that one day I can bury my son's remains. This is my dream. I want to find Murilo, no matter what condition he's in."

Three months ago, when requesting that the investigation and trial of the deaths of homeless people in Goiânia be federalized, the Minister of Human Rights, Maria do Rosário, suggested that reports of disappearances following police encounters in the metropolitan region of the Goianian capital should also be federalized. The minister's request was forwarded to the Superior Court of Justice (STJ) by the Attorney General of the Republic, Roberto Gurgel, at the beginning of May.

The request mentions suspected police violence and the actions of death squads in Goiás which, since 2000, have resulted in “systematic violations of human rights, given the state's inaction in investigating, prosecuting, and punishing the possible perpetrators.” The transfer of jurisdiction, under the responsibility of Minister Jorge Mussi of the Superior Court of Justice (STJ), has not yet been decided. When the request for federalization was presented, the Goiás Military Police, through its press office, stated that it is monitoring the developments of the case, classified as “extremely complex,” and that it has the greatest interest in clarifying the facts so that, if the accusations are proven, those responsible may be punished.