Amnesty Int'l Warns of Rise in Police Killings in Rio Before Olympics

The number of killings by police in Brazil's state of Rio de Janeiro has significantly increased over the past few years, a human rights watchdog said Wednesday, 100 days ahead of the start of the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — According to the report released by Amnesty International, in the city of Rio alone, at least 307 people were killed by police in 2015, accounting for one in every five homicides in the city.

"Despite the promised legacy of a safe city for hosting the Olympic Games, killings by the police have been steadily increasing over the past few years in Rio. Many have been severely injured by rubber bullets, stun grenades and even firearms used by police forces during protests," Atila Roque, executive director of Amnesty International Brazil, was quoted as saying in the report.

According to the rights group's statistics, in 2014, when Brazil hosted the World Cup, Rio state police killed 580 people, which is 40 percent more than in 2013. This figure subsequently rose to 645 in 2015.

Amnesty International has warned that over the next 100 days in the run-up to the Olympics, the country's authorities have a lot to do to ensure public security operations will not violate human rights.