Ana Paula Gomes de Oliveira

Ana Paula Gomes de Oliveira (born 9 October 1976) is a Brazilian human rights activist. Following the death of her son in 2014 as a result of police brutality, she co-founded , an organisation supporting the families of victims of state violence and institutional racism. In 2025, Oliveira received the Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders in recognition of her activism.

Personal life Oliveira was born on 9 October 1976 in Manguinhos, a favela in the North Zone of Rio de Janeiro. She is the eldest of four children born to Maria José Gomes de Oliveira and José Isídio de Oliveira Filho. Her grandparents had been forcibly relocated to Manguinhos from Caju in 1956. In 1977 during the military dictatorship in Brazil, Oliveira's parents were arbitrarily detained and tortured by police officers for two days. As a child, Oliveira's uncle and cousin both died as a result of state violence; her uncle was stabbed to death while in prison, while her cousin was shot dead by police officers.

In 1994, Oliveira had her first son, Johnatha. After finding employment at a daycare centre, she started studying pedagogy in Méier, though she was forced to drop out after losing her job. By 2005, Oliveira had married and had a second child, Maria Paula; that same year, she graduated with a degree from Estácio de Sá University. Shortly afterwards, her husband was shot in the knee and permanently disabled by military police while drinking at a bar. He was one of 580 people killed by the police in Brazil in 2014, of whom 79% were black.

In 2018, a jury trial was ordered. In 2024, the Third Jury Court of Rio de Janeiro reduced the charges against Souza from premeditated murder to manslaughter without intent to kill. Following this, the Public Defender's Office of Rio de Janeiro filed an appeal for Souza to be charged with intentional homicide. A new trial remains pending as of 2024.

Establishment of Mães de Manguinhos and subsequent activism (2014–present) In the immediate aftermath, Oliveira was supported by Marielle Franco, then a member of the Legislative Assembly of Rio de Janeiro's Human Rights Commission. Oliveira was introduced to other mothers of children killed by Brazilian police officers in the area; they subsequently co-founded . The organisation, comprising largely of black women from favelas whose children or other relatives had been killed as a result of police brutality or state violence, called for the remembrance of, and justice for, victims, as well as accountability. Oliveira is also part of the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organised Crime, where she works as an analyst for its Assassination Witness project, documenting attacks linked to organised crime.

Oliveira has said described Brazilian state institutions as being racist and intent on "separating Black mothers from their children" through murder, incarceration, and forced disappearances. She also called on the United Nations to pressure the Brazilian government to address state-sanctioned violence.