The number of deaths rose 5% in 2014 according to an independent watchdog as a spate of killings by police – on and off-duty – prompts investigation

This article is more than 4 years old

This article is more than 4 years old

Brazil reached a new peak of violence last year with more than 58,000 violent deaths, a watchdog group said Thursday.

As the country gears up to host the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro in 2016, the Brazilian forum of public security said the number of violent deaths was up nearly 5% last year from 2013, when the country suffered a then high of 55,000 such deaths.

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The report by the non-profit forum takes into account homicides, manslaughter, killings by police and robberies that end in deaths.

While murder remains the top cause of violent death in Brazil, killings by on- or off-duty police officers now are in second place, the statement said.

The arrest on Thursday in Sao Paulo state of five police officers and a municipal guard suspected of involvement in a recent massacre highlighted the serious nature of the problem. One officer had already been detained in connection with the 13 August killings of 19 people in Brazil’s biggest metropolitan area.

Police investigators have suggested the killings were revenge for the killing of a police officer and a municipal guard in armed robberies gone wrong days before the massacre.

Violence has long plagued Brazil but the country’s security problems are now in the spotlight as the Rio games loom. Rio was the second most dangerous state in terms of absolute numbers of violent deaths, according to the new report.

Bahia, in the country’s impoverished northeast, was the leader in absolute numbers, while the small northeastern state of Alagoas had the highest rate of violent deaths, with 66.5 per 100,000 inhabitants.

The total number of deaths is one of the highest in the world but is not the highest on a per capita basis. For comparison, El Salvador has the highest murder rate in the world with a projected rate of 92 deaths per 100,000 for 2015. That puts it ahead of its central American neighbour Honduras 0n 85 and Venezuela on 53. The US has a rate of 4.7 and the UK stands at 1.