First impressions of Rio de Janeiro for the England players when they touch down to begin their World Cup adventure this summer will be favourable to say the least. Overlooking the luxurious Royal Tulip is a stunning beach with swaying palm trees, crystal blue waters and an endless procession of bikini-clad girls sashaying across the sand. But should they, or any England supporters making the trip out to follow their team, head inland from the idyllic beachfront, they risk experiencing an altogether different and disturbing atmosphere. The stinking filth and squalor of the biggest shanty town in South America spilling down the hillside less than half a mile away is now also synonymous with violence and multiple deaths, just weeks before the World Cup comes to town. Lions' Den: The England team's World Cup hotel will be overlooked by the fearsome Rocinha shanty town . Idyllic: While the view from England's plush hotel is the stuff of dreams, it's a different experience inland . Ghetto: Over 200,000 people live in the Rocinha favela and there a nightly gun fights between police and gangs . Hands up: An undercover female detective on patrol in the Rocinha favela as police tackle drug gangs . Patrol: Heavily armed police officers monitor the favela to prevent the gangs from taking control . The Rocinha favela is a place where crackling gunfire lights up the night sky, and where police death squads and drug gangs battle for control of the sewage-filled streets. There has been an orgy of extra-judicial killing by Brazil’s military police – the result of a government crackdown to ‘pacify’ the favelas before the world’s media arrive. Last week a popular local DJ was murdered by police just feet from Rio’s famed Copacabana Beach, leading to violent demonstrations. On Monday nine buses were set on fire in protest at police brutality. Seven police officers have died in clashes since the start of the year. Rocinha is a maze of haphazard steps carved into the hillside leading to a muddle of one-bedroom shanty homes made from breeze blocks where 200,000 deprived and desperate Rio citizens live. Stalls sell live chickens next to dead ones and fly-covered fruit and veg. There is a ceaseless cacophony of motorcycle horns, loud music and yelling voices. Inside every shack, no matter how tiny, families crowd around television screens. Eighteen-year-old Amarildo de Souza Jr is among them. His father was snatched by police who mistook him for a drug dealer, then killed him. Violence: Human rights activists have complained that the police have gone overboard to pacify the favelas . The death last year of Amarildo Sr, a 42-year-old bricklayer, is now a cause celebre.Some 25 officers including the head of the favela’s police force are standing trial. Officers are said to have tasered, strangled and then drowned their victim during a  40-minute torture session before dumping the body in a nearby forest. His son tells me: ‘Dad would have been just another statistic, except the favela rose up.’ The protest spawned riots across Brazil and led to three deaths when police fired on rioters.Amarildo Jr continues: ‘The case got so much publicity they had to charge the cops. I hope they go to jail but Brazil is a corrupt country. The police have a licence to kill. The World Cup will come and go but the violence will remain.’ Clandestine police ‘body dumps’ have sprung up. One notorious dumping ground – Grumari Forest – has been given the gruesome nickname ‘the microwave’ because of reports of nightly fires and the smell of burning flesh. One witness who spoke on condition of anonymity said: ‘The police cars enter without lights. We hear gunfire. One time we found four bodies riddled with bullets. We found a hand sticking up from the ground.’ When Brazil was awarded the tournament in 2007 the government introduced a programme to ‘pacify’ hundreds of favelas. Officials refuse to reveal the numbers who have died since the ‘clean-up’ operation started, but in Rocinha alone ten men have been killed since January. Now the authorities are promising to ‘secure’ the slums using an elite military police squad called BOPE, a shadowy organisation of highly-trained special forces whose logo is a dagger piercing a skull. Tackle: The Brazilian government began 'cleaning up' favelas in 2007, as soon as they were awarded World Cup . Last week Maria de Fatima da Silva, 56, buried her only son Douglas Rafael, 26, a popular DJ and dancer after he was killed by police in the Pavao-Pavaozinho favela which overlooks Copacabana Beach. Police are thought to have mistaken him for a drug dealer. Maria says: ‘The police told me he had fallen and died but when I saw his body in the morgue I found a bullet hole in his back. The only reason I got his body back was that people filmed the cops on cellphones. Otherwise he would have “disappeared” along with all the others.’ She adds: ‘There will be blood on the streets during the World Cup, be sure of it.’ The number of registered ‘disappearances’ in Rio has surged from 3,997 in 2009 to 6,004 last year. Amnesty International spokesman Alexandre Ciconello said: ‘The government is trying to paint a pretty picture for the world saying things have been cleaned up and that Brazil is safe for tourists. But the reality is far darker.’
Heavily armed police have been engaged in nightly gun fights with drug gangs in Rochina favela .
Rocinha favela overlooks England's plush Royal Tulip hotel in beachside neighbourhood of Sao Conrado .
A 24-year-old man was shot dead in Rocinha on Friday .
A popular local DJ was killed by police last week, leading to violent protests .
Amnesty International says Brazil government is trying to portray an image 'that things have been cleaned up and Brazil is safe for tourists. But the reality is far darker'
First impressions of Rio de Janeiro for the England players when they touch down to begin their World Cup adventure this summer will be favourable to say the least. Overlooking the luxurious Royal Tulip is a stunning beach with swaying palm trees, crystal blue waters and an endless procession of bikini-clad girls sashaying across the sand. But should they, or any England supporters making the trip out to follow their team, head inland from the idyllic beachfront, they risk experiencing an altogether different and disturbing atmosphere. The stinking filth and squalor of the biggest shanty town in South America spilling down the hillside less than half a mile away is now also synonymous with violence and multiple deaths, just weeks before the World Cup comes to town. Lions' Den: The England team's World Cup hotel will be overlooked by the fearsome Rocinha shanty town . Idyllic: While the view from England's plush hotel is the stuff of dreams, it's a different experience inland . Ghetto: Over 200,000 people live in the Rocinha favela and there a nightly gun fights between police and gangs . Hands up: An undercover female detective on patrol in the Rocinha favela as police tackle drug gangs . Patrol: Heavily armed police officers monitor the favela to prevent the gangs from taking control . The Rocinha favela is a place where crackling gunfire lights up the night sky, and where police death squads and drug gangs battle for control of the sewage-filled streets. There has been an orgy of extra-judicial killing by Brazil’s military police – the result of a government crackdown to ‘pacify’ the favelas before the world’s media arrive. Last week a popular local DJ was murdered by police just feet from Rio’s famed Copacabana Beach, leading to violent demonstrations. On Monday nine buses were set on fire in protest at police brutality. Seven police officers have died in clashes since the start of the year. Rocinha is a maze of haphazard steps carved into the hillside leading to a muddle of one-bedroom shanty homes made from breeze blocks where 200,000 deprived and desperate Rio citizens live. Stalls sell live chickens next to dead ones and fly-covered fruit and veg. There is a ceaseless cacophony of motorcycle horns, loud music and yelling voices. Inside every shack, no matter how tiny, families crowd around television screens. Eighteen-year-old Amarildo de Souza Jr is among them. His father was snatched by police who mistook him for a drug dealer, then killed him. Violence: Human rights activists have complained that the police have gone overboard to pacify the favelas . The death last year of Amarildo Sr, a 42-year-old bricklayer, is now a cause celebre.Some 25 officers including the head of the favela’s police force are standing trial. Officers are said to have tasered, strangled and then drowned their victim during a  40-minute torture session before dumping the body in a nearby forest. His son tells me: ‘Dad would have been just another statistic, except the favela rose up.’ The protest spawned riots across Brazil and led to three deaths when police fired on rioters.Amarildo Jr continues: ‘The case got so much publicity they had to charge the cops. I hope they go to jail but Brazil is a corrupt country. The police have a licence to kill. The World Cup will come and go but the violence will remain.’ Clandestine police ‘body dumps’ have sprung up. One notorious dumping ground – Grumari Forest – has been given the gruesome nickname ‘the microwave’ because of reports of nightly fires and the smell of burning flesh. One witness who spoke on condition of anonymity said: ‘The police cars enter without lights. We hear gunfire. One time we found four bodies riddled with bullets. We found a hand sticking up from the ground.’ When Brazil was awarded the tournament in 2007 the government introduced a programme to ‘pacify’ hundreds of favelas. Officials refuse to reveal the numbers who have died since the ‘clean-up’ operation started, but in Rocinha alone ten men have been killed since January. Now the authorities are promising to ‘secure’ the slums using an elite military police squad called BOPE, a shadowy organisation of highly-trained special forces whose logo is a dagger piercing a skull. Tackle: The Brazilian government began 'cleaning up' favelas in 2007, as soon as they were awarded World Cup . Last week Maria de Fatima da Silva, 56, buried her only son Douglas Rafael, 26, a popular DJ and dancer after he was killed by police in the Pavao-Pavaozinho favela which overlooks Copacabana Beach. Police are thought to have mistaken him for a drug dealer. Maria says: ‘The police told me he had fallen and died but when I saw his body in the morgue I found a bullet hole in his back. The only reason I got his body back was that people filmed the cops on cellphones. Otherwise he would have “disappeared” along with all the others.’ She adds: ‘There will be blood on the streets during the World Cup, be sure of it.’ The number of registered ‘disappearances’ in Rio has surged from 3,997 in 2009 to 6,004 last year. Amnesty International spokesman Alexandre Ciconello said: ‘The government is trying to paint a pretty picture for the world saying things have been cleaned up and that Brazil is safe for tourists. But the reality is far darker.’
luxurious Royal Tulip is a stunning beach with view from England's plush hotel is the stuff of favela and there a nightly gun fights between detective on patrol in the Rocinha favela as police tackle drug gangs . Patrol: Heavily armed popular local DJ was murdered by police just feet dancer after he was killed by police in the year. Amnesty International spokesman Alexandre Ciconello said: ‘The government is trying to things have been cleaned up and that Brazil is safe for tourists. But the reality is far darker.’