![]() ![]() ![]() The public has both interpreted the films as a glorification of BOPE’s actions and a criticism of them. The sequel is the highest grossing film in Brazilian history. Two blockbuster films “Elite Squad”, and its sequel, fictionalize their exploits and feature graphic scenes of torture and bloody gunfights. Their website, with its flashy presentation and corresponding Facebook and Twitter accounts, point to an organization that is nothing less than a cultural phenomenon. Despite this seemingly negative reputation, BOPE occupies a unique position on the public consciousness. Yet, The United Nations Human Rights Commission recommended that Brazil abolish its military police in 2012, primarily due to extrajudicial killings. īOPE is just one unit in the larger system of military police throughout Brazil that are responsible for maintaining public security and order, alongside the regular civil police. A 2009 Human Rights Watch Report, with a picture of a BOPE patrol vehicle featured on its cover page, remarks that the military police in Rio and Sao Paulo have killed 11,000 since 2003. Aimed at uprooting organized crime, BOPE’s operations have been marred by extrajudicial executions, torture, and impunity. Images of their officers clad all in black, with their emblem featuring a skull and two crossed pistols, have become synonymous with the extreme levels of violence in the favelas, Brazil’s urban slums. ![]() The Special Operations Battalion (BOPE in Portuguese) has been at the frontline of Rio de Janeiro’s struggle to clean up the city before the upcoming World Cup. “Loyalty, fearlessness, integrity!” chant the men of Rio de Janeiro’s Elite Squad in their dub step-laden promotional YouTube video. ![]()
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