UNITED NATIONS. UN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMITTEE RAPS BRAZIL FOR TORTURE, KILLINGS

the UN Human Rights Committee urged Brazil to stamp out extra-judicial killings and the use of torture and other alleged abuses by law enforcement officials. The Committee, which monitors states' compliance with an international treaty on basic freedoms, said that investigations into allegations of such conduct should be carried out by independent bodies free of police interference.
"The committee is concerned about the widespread use of excessive force by law enforcement officials, the use of torture to extract confessions from suspects ... the extra-judicial execution of suspects," it said in its findings.
Brazil was one of four signatories to the 1976 Covenant on Civil and Political Rights to come up for review by the committee at its latest session, including Italy and Canada.
Although military rule ended in the South American country some 20 years ago, the committee said it regretted that there had still been no investigation into human rights' abuses committed during the two decades of armed forces' rule.