An international rights group denounced on Friday an increase in the killing of street children in Brazil, a day after six homeless youths were found murdered.

In a report to President Fernando Henrique Cardoso, the group Human Rights Watch Americas said the trend was expected to worsen this year.

The organization found killings of minors in Rio rose from 298 in the first six months of 1993 to 318 during the same period last year. By comparison, 424 minors were murdered in Rio for all of 1992.

Human rights groups have long linked police to the killings.