Rio's drug gang leaders have been buying light weapons easy for children to carry: Similarities to use of children in African wars Long concerned with the plight of child soldiers in Africa, Lieutenant-General Romeo Dallaire (Ret.) has recently made a new discovery -- that drug traffickers in Brazil are increasingly recruiting children to the drug wars. Gen. Dallaire, who was the commander of the ill-fated United Nations peacekeeping mission during the Rwandan genocide in 1994, sees the proof of this in a recent massacre in Rio de Janeiro, where nine adolescents were among the 30 victims. [continues 797 words]
Violence Out Of Control: Gangs Attack City Hall, Murder Journalist, Enslave Residents Of Shantytowns RIO DE JANEIRO - Drug-trafficking gangs attacked Rio's city hall this week, firing more than 200 automatic rifle blasts into one of the municipal complex's buildings in the downtown core during work hours. A few weeks ago, the remains of a high-profile investigative journalist were discovered in a shantytown, or favela, in the city's northern suburbs. Tim Lopes, a reporter for Globo TV was carrying a hidden camera while researching a story on drug trafficking and violence in one of the city's more than 500 shantytowns. When drug kingpins in the shantytown discovered what he was doing, he was brutally tortured and murdered. [continues 865 words]
On Sept. 15, 1997, Lynn Harichy set out to break the law. The 36-year-old resident of London, Ont., contacted the local news media and announced she was on her way to the London Police Department to smoke marijuana. By the time she arrived, a crowd of cheering supporters had rallied outside the police station and were handing her marijuana cigarettes as she walked defiantly up the station steps. Ms Harichy, who didn't even have a chance to light up, was arrested on the spot. [continues 2102 words]
