By Andrei Khalip RIO DE JANEIRO, June 29 (Reuters) - Rio de Janeiro state security chief pledged more raids in the city's violent slums after shantytown bloodshed that killed 19 people and was condemned by rights groups as a police massacre. A police operation on Wednesday involved 1,350 officers and was Rio's biggest police raid, occurring just two weeks before the start of the Pan American Games in the crime-ridden city that is eager to showcase its attractions. "We already have plans, of the same dimensions as in the Alemao slum complex the other day, for other areas of Rio," Public Security Secretary Jose Beltrame said in an interview published on Friday in the O Globo daily. Globo quoted him as saying the Rocinha slum, one of Latin America's largest, and the City of God, made famous by the film of the same name, were among the next five targets for raids on the well-armed drug gangs that control many of Rio's slums. "Slum residents are at the mercy of a parallel state, where criminals dictate their will," Beltrame said. Police estimate there are 850 gangsters in the five slums, armed with at least 450 rifles in addition to hand guns, grenades and other weapons, O Globo said. In the meantime, the human rights commission of the Rio lawyers' association threatened legal action against the authorities and demanded a thorough investigation of the raid on Alemao, where residents accused police of summary executions, killings of innocent civilians and looting. Its president, Joao Tancredo, called the raid a massacre. Authorities said the dead were all traffickers and insist their actions were justified, but agreed to investigate all accusations of police abuse. A statement from various human rights groups, including Global Justice and the lawyers' commission, said "using the logic of war in combating organized crime and drug trafficking has not produced any effect on dismantling crime rings." "The society cannot support a public security policy that criminalizes poverty and disrespects human rights," it said. Global Justice director Sandra Carvalho said rights groups hoped to convince Beltrame at a meeting next week to give up on war-style raids. They also seek the justice ministry's help and may appeal to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. On Friday, schools that had been shut for two days reopened in Alemao, the residents' association said. Security forces still searched people and vehicles at the slum's entrances. The violence stoked concerns about public safety during the Pan American Games starting on July 13, which will bring 5,500 athletes and about 800,000 tourists to the city. Rio is also a venue for the global Live Earth concerts July 7.
