70 police transferred from unit tied to Rio slum resident death

Some 70 police officers assigned to a unit linked to the disappearance and death of a Rio slum dweller have been replaced for psychological reasons, their chief said Sunday. The G1 news website quoted Colonel Frederico Caldas, coordinator of the city's Police Pacification Units (UPPs), as saying the officers were transferred because they "felt harassed, many intimidated" in the wake of the uproar over the fate of bricklayer Amarildo de Souza. De Souza, a resident of Rocinha, Rio's biggest favela, has not be seen since he was kidnapped by police last July. Some 25 members of Rocinha's 700-strong UPP were recently jailed for their role in the torture and killing of de Souza and for trying to blame drug traffickers. His body has not been found. And his disappearance has set off several protests by outraged Rocinha residents demanding authorities explain what happened to him. Caldas said many officers of the Rocinha UPP have asked to leave the unit. Scores of people marched through Rocinha on All Souls' Day Saturday to give a symbolic burial to de Souza. Relatives, friends and supporters trekked through Rocinha to the hilltop UPP station where the construction worker was last seen in July before conducting a symbolical burial of his effigy. Wearing de Souza masks, the demonstrators demanded that police turn over de Souza's body.