Brazil's National Council for Human Rights (CNDH), which answers to the Ministry of Human Rights, sent an official letter to Rio de Janeiro's state Public Security Secretariat demanding a thorough investigation into the beating death of cyclist Claudio Rafael Landeiro, 37, who was killed on August 11 in Copacabana, in the city's South Zone. The council requested detailed information about the investigation and asked state authorities to take action, according to the Painel column in Folha de S.Paulo.

The case drew national attention after security camera footage showed the sequence of attacks. Claudio had stopped with a bicycle, which belonged to his sister, in front of a store at the corner of Barata Ribeiro and Belford Roxo streets. According to police, people in the area suspected the bike was stolen and called a street security guard. Shortly after, two men dressed as delivery workers arrived by bike and began talking to the victim; a third man then appeared carrying a stick and began the attack, which included more than 30 blows plus punches and kicks, according to a reconstruction by CNN Brasil based on the footage.

Timeline of the case

• August 11: Claudio is beaten on a public street in Copacabana and taken by firefighters to Miguel Couto Municipal Hospital, where he dies of his injuries.
• August 19 and 20: two suspects are arrested by the 12th Police Precinct (Copacabana), which is leading the investigation.
• August 21: a third suspect, identified as Felipe Eduardo dos Santos Silva, turns himself in to police in the Tijuca neighborhood and is placed under temporary arrest.
• August 24: newspaper O Globo reports that the private street security service operating in the Copacabana area will also be investigated.
• August 26: the CNDH formally requests a rigorous investigation from Rio's Public Security Secretariat.

According to Claudio's family, the theft suspicion that triggered the initial confrontation was false, since the bicycle belonged to his sister. Relatives say he died of a skull fracture and internal bleeding caused by the blows. Police have identified four suspects in total; three have been arrested, two caught in the act and one after turning himself in, while the fourth remains at large. None of the men under investigation has been formally charged by prosecutors so far, and all remain presumed innocent while the 12th Precinct's inquiry continues. In Brazil, this kind of vigilante beating is legally described as 'linchamento', a mob attack often triggered by mistaken accusations of theft, a phenomenon rights groups say has become more frequent on Rio's streets.

The case is also being monitored by the Human Rights Commission of the Rio de Janeiro bar association (OAB-RJ), according to O Globo. Rio's Public Security Secretariat had not publicly responded to the CNDH's request as of this report. The next step is the conclusion of the 12th Precinct's inquiry, which is expected to include locating the fourth identified suspect and examining how the street security service involved in the episode operates, before the case can be referred to prosecutors for a possible formal charge.