里約8.5萬人維持治安 犯罪依舊猖獗

RIO DE JANEIRO — If battling pickpockets were an Olympic sport, the Brazilian authorities might qualify for a medal.

里約熱內盧——如果反扒也是一項奧林匹克賽事，那麼巴西官方應該可以贏得一枚獎牌了。

In the face of soaring street crime, the state government has deployed a security force of 85,000 in Rio, among them 23,000 soldiers who stand sentinel at busy intersections or cruise the streets in military jeeps, their weapons aimed menacingly at the sidewalk.

爲了應付日益猖獗的街頭犯罪，政府在里約部署了多達8.5萬人的安保力量，其中有2.3萬名軍人，他們在繁忙的十字路口站崗，或是開着軍用吉普車在街頭巡邏，手中的武器威脅地指向人行道。

In one of the more intriguing displays, a Brazilian naval ship has been patrolling along the city’s famed Ipanema Beach.

還有一些更有意思的展示，比如在這座城市著名的依帕內瑪海灘(Ipanema Beach)，有一艘軍艦沿着海岸線巡邏。

Still, the overwhelming show of force has not exactly vanquished crime. The chief of security for the opening ceremony was mugged at knifepoint on Friday night as he left Olympic Stadium; a stray bullet landed in the equestrian arena’s media tent on Saturday, just missing a New Zealand sports official; and on Saturday night, Portugal’s education minister was assaulted as he strolled along Rio’s upscale lagoon, site of the rowing competition.

然而，大量的武力展示並沒有完全擊敗犯罪。開幕式的安全主管週五在離開奧林匹克體育場時遭到了持刀搶劫；星期六，一顆流彈擊中了騎馬賽事場館外的媒體帳篷，差點擊中一位新西蘭體育官員；星期六晚上，葡萄牙教育部長在里約的高檔環礁湖一帶散步時遭遇襲擊，這裏也是賽艇賽事的主辦地點。

In their preparation for the Olympics, Brazilian officials confronted a number of challenges that had spooked some international visitors, including fears over the Zika epidemic, the threat of terrorist attacks and unflattering news media reports that drew attention to the city’s polluted waters.

在籌備奧運會的過程中，巴西官員們曾面臨一系列挑戰，這些問題嚇壞了不少外國遊客，比如說對茲卡(Zika)病毒的恐慌，恐怖主義襲擊的威脅，以及關於城市水污染那些毫不客氣的新聞報道。

But it is the recent surge in street crime that has most unnerved city officials and residents, who worry that an embarrassing spike in lawlessness could dent the pride and euphoria that have taken hold here since the Summer Games began on Friday night.

但最近涌現的街頭犯罪，纔是最令這個城市的官員與居民們焦慮的問題，不法行爲的激增令人尷尬，自從週五夏季奧運會開幕以來，這座城市裏一直縈繞着驕傲與狂歡的氣氛，他們擔心這樣的氣氛會遭到破壞。

Despite the most recent incidents, including a bomb scare Saturday near the finish line of a men’s cycling race, most visitors and residents say they feel safe. “This must be the safest place in Brazil right now,” said Isabela Carvalho, 46, an ice cream vendor, as military police officers sped by on motorcycles, sirens wailing.

儘管有最近的那些事故，包括週六發生在男子自行車賽終點線附近的炸彈恐慌，大多數遊客和居民還是說，他們覺得很安全。“現在，這裏可能是全巴西最安全的地方了，”46歲的冰淇淋小販伊莎貝拉•卡瓦略(Isabela Carvalho)說，這時街頭有一羣警察騎着摩托車，鳴着警笛呼嘯而過。

But the show of force has also drawn criticism from human rights activists who fear that overly aggressive policing might lead to abuses, especially in the city’s low-income communities, known as favelas.

但是武力的展示也招來人權活動人士的批評，擔心過分強硬的治安管制會導致權力濫用，特別是在通常被稱爲“貧民窟”(favelas)的那些低收入社區。

Last week, a joint police and military operation in one such neighborhood, Complexo do Alemão, left two people dead.

阿萊茂住宅區(Complexo do Alemão)就是這樣的一個社區，上星期，軍方和警方在這裏舉行了一場聯合行動，兩人喪生。

Officials have sought to reassure visitors, pointing out that the security force is more than twice the number dispatched during the London Olympics of 2012. They also note that Rio has successfully hosted other large sporting events, including the 2014 World Cup.

官方努力安撫遊客們，指出這屆奧運會的安保力量是2012年倫敦奧運會的兩倍還要多。他們還指出，里約曾經成功地舉辦過不少體育盛事，包括2014年足球世界盃。

The city’s security woes have been exacerbated by a severe budget crunch, which has hampered the government’s ability to pay police officers. The sense of crisis was underscored in June, when the state government declared a “financial calamity.”

由於預算縮減，政府難以向警察支付薪資，因此這座城市的安全問題進一步激化。自6月政府宣佈“金融災難”後，人們便開始感到了危機。

In recent weeks, police officers who said their salaries had been delayed or only partially paid demonstrated at Rio’s international airport, holding up signs for arriving passengers that read, “Welcome to hell.”

最近幾周以來，一些遲遲未能拿到薪資，或是隻拿到部分薪資的警察在里約國際機場示威，向抵達機場的旅客們舉着“歡迎來到地獄”的標語。

Fábio Neira, a civil police commissioner, said the late paychecks had dampened morale. “This creates a huge financial difficulty for us because you have to pay your bills, electricity and rent at the beginning of the month,” he said in an interview.

一位名叫法比奧•內拉(Fábio Neira)的警局局長說，欠薪令警察們士氣低落。“這給我們帶來了極大的財政困難，要知道月初時你還得付賬單，交房租和電費，”他在採訪中說。

Although the federal government subsequently provided an $850 million bailout to pay for security costs during the games, Neira said the money did not cover overtime worked in May or June.

儘管聯邦政府後來撥了8.5億美元的緊急財政援助，用於奧運會期間的安保費用，內拉說，這些錢連支付在五六月期間超時工作的工資都不夠。

Working conditions, he added, remain abysmal, noting that some police stations lacked pens, toilet paper or money for gas.

他補充說，工作環境仍然糟糕透頂，有些警察局連筆和手紙都沒有，甚至沒錢給車子加油。

Although the Brazilian news media tends to focus on brazen street robberies or violence that occurs in the city’s wealthier neighborhoods, experts say it is Rio’s poor residents who bear the brunt of increased crime.

巴西媒體更傾向於關注肆無忌憚的街頭搶劫，以及發生在城市較爲富有地區的暴力事件，但專家們說，受犯罪率上升影響最大的還要算是里約的貧民。

Professor Julita Lemgruber, coordinator of the Center for Studies on Public Security and Citizenship at Candido Mendes University in Rio, said the rise in street crime was partly tied to failed efforts to improve public security in the city’s favelas.

里約坎迪杜•門德斯大學公共安全與公民研究中心協調員朱莉塔•倫格魯貝(Julita Lemgruber)教授說，街頭犯罪的上升，部分與官方未能成功改善貧民窟地區的公共安全有關。

In 2008, the state of Rio de Janeiro began an ambitious initiative, creating Police Pacification Units, which were responsible for combating drug gangs that had been operating with impunity. The program, which also relies on community policing and social work, is cited in Olympic documents as an important factor in addressing the city’s long-standing security concerns.

2008年，里約熱內盧州開展了一項雄心勃勃的行動，它創立了“警方平定小隊”(Police Pacification Units)，旨在打擊有恃無恐的販毒團伙。這個計劃還有一系列治安管理和社會工作作爲基礎，奧運會文件中曾經大量引用這項行動，證明這個城市有安全方面的長遠打算。

Atila Roque, the executive director of Amnesty International in Brazil, said the program has been riddled with abuse and had exacerbated tensions between the police and residents, some of whom have called for an end to the effort.

國際特赦組織(Amnesty International)駐巴西執行總管阿蒂拉•羅克(Atila Roque)說，這項計劃中充滿濫用權力，激化了警察和居民之間的矛盾，有些人已經呼籲早日結束這個行動。

Last year the police were responsible for 20 percent of the city’s homicides, according to Amnesty International, which used data from the state’s Public Security Institute. There were 645 police killings last year, compared with 400 in 2013. The number of those who died at the hands of the police between April and June of this year doubled from the same period last year, according to the data.

國際特赦組織引用巴西公共安全部的數據，稱去年這座城市裏的殺人案中，有20%是由警察導致的。去年有645起警察殺人事件，2013年這個數字是400起。根據這些數據，今年4月到6月，死於警察之手的人數是去年同期的兩倍。

Most of the dead were young black men.

其中大多數死者是年輕的黑人男性。

One of the communities hit hard by police violence is Maré, a sprawling favela that sits between Rio’s international airport and the affluent neighborhoods of Ipanema and Copacabana. The authorities have long struggled to contain the violence spawned by warring drug traffickers and militia groups. In the months before the World Cup, the army occupied the community for a year.

馬雷(Maré)是遭受警察暴力尤爲嚴重的社區之一，這個雜亂無章的貧民窟坐落在里約國際機場與依帕內瑪和科帕卡巴納的富人區之間。這裏的販毒團伙和民兵組織之間經常發生暴力衝突，政府早就想控制局面。世界盃之前的幾個月，軍隊佔領了這個社區，駐紮一年。

Eliana Sousa Silva, who was raised in Maré and is the founder of a local nonprofit group, said police operations there became more frequent as the Olympics approached. Late last month, journalists living in the neighborhood reported three straight days of police operations that involved heavy gunfire.

埃利安娜•索薩•席爾瓦(Eliana Sousa Silva)在馬雷長大，是本地一個非盈利組織的創始人，她說隨着奧運到來，警察的行動也愈來愈頻繁。上月月底，住在附近的記者報道，警察的行動持續了整整三天，還出動了重型武器。

“The Olympics, like the World Cup and other mega events in Rio, are always a tense moment for residents of Maré,” she said, adding that police operations are often heavy handed. “The government needs to ensure nothing happens, in order to show Rio to the world.”

她說，“奧運會和世界盃以及里約舉辦的其他盛事一樣，對於馬雷的居民們來說都是非常緊張的時刻。”她又補充說，警方的行動一般都非常嚴厲。“政府想保證什麼事也不出，就爲了向世界展示里約。”