By Andrei Khalip RIO DE JANEIRO, July 3 (Reuters) - International rights group Amnesty International appealed to Portugal on Tuesday to use its new clout as European Union president to raise the issue of police violence and human rights with Brazil. Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva was traveling to Portugal, Brazil's former colonial ruler, and was to meet Portuguese Prime Minister Jose Socrates on Wednesday before an EU Summit. Portugal took over the EU's six-month rotating presidency on Sunday. The appeal follows last week's police raid in a Rio de Janeiro slum which killed 19 people and has been labeled a massacre by rights groups and lawyers. Rights advocates also met with Rio officials in a bid to convince them to abandon violent, military-style raids and investigate alleged police abuse. "Amnesty International urges it (Portugal) to set a precedent for the next six months by having a frank discussion about human rights with its counterpart, Brazil," Amnesty International said in a statement. It said Brazil was ignoring the root causes of the violence such as poverty, social exclusion, corruption and a weak judicial system. It also said it was concerned by the government's attempts to "equate organized crime with terrorism." Rights groups, lawyers and state legislators who met Rio state security officials said it was agreed that independent experts would analyze coroners' reports on the raid victims for signs of executions and torture as some slum residents allege. "If there's still suspicion of execution after that, we can request that the bodies be exhumed and new reports be made," Rio legislative assembly deputy Marcelo Freixo said. He said residents also accused police of beatings and looting. Rio is notorious for its violent slums, which give it one of the highest murder rates in Latin America. Over a million people in the city of 11 million live in shantytowns. Patrick Wilcken, a Brazil researcher with Amnesty International in London, said the use of a federal National Public Security Force along with state police in the slum raid last Wednesday cast doubt over the government's willingness to adopt more human rights-friendly policies. "Some of the rhetoric of Lula and the use of the national force certainly raises questions about government commitment to a more sophisticated approach to security," Wilcken said. Lula on Monday promised to invest heavily to bring running water and other basic services to Rio slums to counter drug gangs that control many of the poor areas. But he also called for a tough police stance against drug gangs, ridiculing some anti-violence groups as "people who think it's only possible to confront crooks with rose petals."
