América
Americas
Martina Correia gazes towards the prison at the exact moment her brother, Troy Davis, was executed on 21 September in Georgia, USA, amid serious doubts about the reliability of his conviction.
© Scott Langley
On 11 August 2011, Judge Patrícia Acioli was shot 21 times outside her home in Niterói, Rio de Janeiro state, Brazil, by members of the Military Police. Her long track record of presiding over criminal cases implicating Brazilian police officers in human rights violations had made her a target of numerous death threats. In October, 11 police officers, including a commanding officer, were detained and charged with her killing. It was reported that, at the time of her death, Judge Acioli had been presiding over the investigation into allegations of extrajudicial executions and criminal activity by the policemen involved. Her death was a serious blow to the human rights movement in Brazil, but her tireless pursuit of justice remains an inspiration to countless others who, like Judge Acioli, refuse to let human rights violations go unchallenged.