Attack and raid on the premises of the Movimenta Caxias Collective
On 4 August 2021, around noon, two unidentified armed men broke into the shed where Movimenta Caxias Collective is located. Movimenta Caxias Collective is based in Duque de Caxias, a municipality of Baixada Fluminense region, in the state of Rio de Janeiro. The shed also hosts other social movements from the region.
Movimenta Caxias Collective is a collective founded in 2017 by human rights defenders from Baixada Fluminense. The collective is divided into different areas of activity, such as education, culture, communication, solidarity actions and the fight against racism, in various parts of the city, particularly in the lowland region of Rio de Janeiro. It also carries out its work in several neighbourhoods and favelas, particularly in the region of Baixada Fluminense. Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, the collective has been carrying out solidarity actions, such as distributing food baskets and hygiene products, and hosting people at its premises during cold nights. Through its work in defence of human rights, the collective has already provided support to more than 45,000 families facing social risk and in vulnerable conditions.
On 4 August 2021, around noon, two unidentified armed men broke into the shed where Movimenta Caxias Collective is located. Movimenta Caxias Collective is based in Duque de Caxias, a municipality of Baixada Fluminense region, in the state of Rio de Janeiro. The shed also hosts other social movements from the region.
Movimenta Caxias Collective is a collective founded in 2017 by human rights defenders from Baixada Fluminense. The collective is divided into different areas of activity, such as education, culture, communication, solidarity actions and the fight against racism, in various parts of the city, particularly in the lowland region of Rio de Janeiro. It also carries out its work in several neighbourhoods and favelas, particularly in the region of Baixada Fluminense. Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, the collective has been carrying out solidarity actions, such as distributing food baskets and hygiene products, and hosting people at its premises during cold nights. Through its work in defence of human rights, the collective has already provided support to more than 45,000 families facing social risk and in vulnerable conditions.
On 4 August 2021, two armed men broke into the Movimenta Caxias Collective’s shed and interrogated the janitor. The men asked where those responsible for the project were, and after the janitor insisted that she didn't know, they asked where the food vouchers were kept. No one was physically injured and nothing was taken. On 5 August 2021, the incident was reported to the Racial Crimes and Intolerance Offences Police Department.
Baixada Fluminense is a region rife with territorial disputes between militia and drug traffickers, with high rates of violence and police abuse against the black community, and intimidation against human rights defenders by different actors. The Movimenta Caxias Collective reports that since late 2020, in the context of the campaigns for the municipal elections, its members have been experiencing increased harassment due to their actions in defence of human rights. In October 2020, for example, a vehicle with armed men followed Wesley Teixeira, a Black human rights defender and one of the co-founders and public figures of the collective.
Front Line Defenders has been following the escalation of violence against human rights defenders in the Baixada Fluminense region and in the state of Rio de Janeiro with deep concern. Front Line Defenders condemns the attack on the premises of Movimenta Caxias Collective, as this incident is the latest in a pattern of ongoing intimidation facing human rights defenders in the region, particularly against black human rights defenders and members of favela movements, who have been crucial in addressing the negative impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic in marginalised communities.
