A police raid aimed at alleged drug traffickers that left at least 25 people dead in a shootout in a Rio de Janeiro slum has drawn criticism from the United Nations human rights office, which is calling for an independent investigation, citing a history of “disproportionate and unnecessary” use of force by police in Brazil. Helicopters and a contingent of some 200 heavily armed police officers on Thursday descended on the crowded, poor and mostly non-white community of Jacarezinho – one of the city’s largest slums, which is largely controlled by one of the country’s leading criminal gangs, Comando Vermelho, or Red Command. Witnesses described the operation as a terrifying firefight, with suspects leaping from rooftops.

A police raid aimed at alleged drug traffickers that left at least 25 people dead in a shootout in a Rio de Janeiro slum has drawn criticism from the United Nations human rights office, which is calling for an independent investigation, citing a history of “disproportionate and unnecessary” use of force by police in Brazil. Helicopters and a contingent of some 200 heavily armed police officers on Thursday descended on the crowded, poor and mostly non-white community of Jacarezinho – one of the city’s largest slums, which is largely controlled by one of the country’s leading criminal gangs, Comando Vermelho, or Red Command. Witnesses described the operation as a terrifying firefight, with suspects leaping from rooftops.