NEWS FROM BRAZIL supplied by AGEN (Agencia Ecumenica de Noticias) e Servico Espiritano de Justica e Paz.

Number 2, October 31, 1991.

"We are now getting awards for texts about human misery. We would hope one day to be able to give the news that the life situation of the people is becoming better". With these words, reporter Paulo Pontes from Radio Bandeirantes received on October 25 last the 13th. Vladimir Herzog Prize in the area of radio reporting. Paulo Pontes received this prize because of his report "X-Ray of the Health Situation in Sao Paulo". During the preparation of this report he visited 43 hospitals.

The Valdimir Herzog Prize, which is named after a journalist assassinated in Sao Paulo in 1975, is given annually by the Sindicate of Professional Journalists of the State of Sao Paulo (Sindicato dos Jornalistas Profissionais no Estado de Sao Paulo) to journalists who denounce the abuse of human rights. Other prize winners were: Luis Antonio and Edson Silva from the newspaper "Folha de Londrina" from Londrina, State of Parana. Their report entitled "Coal Workers" dealt with a struggle for survival in the State of Mato Grosso do Sul. Another prizewinner was Marta Alves from the newspaper "Zero Hora" from Porto Alegre, State of Rio Grande do Sul; her report dealt with street children and was entitled "A Legion of the Abandoned". Marco Antonio Benatti from the newspaper "Diario do Povo" based in Campinas, State of Sao Paulo won a prize for his report dealing with the slave labor of children in Leme, State of Sao Paulo. Helio Goes of EMA Video from the capital, Brasilia, won a prize for his video dealing with a literacy program for adults in Ipatinga, State of Mato Grosso.

Carlos Fon, the president of the Journalists Sindicate commented that the fact that the majority of the 1991 prizewinners are working in small and medium vehicles of communication indicates that the large communication networks are not open to publishing facts about the real situation of the country. For this reason, Mr. Fon called on the journalists, united with all who work in the general area of communications, to participate in the struggle for democratization and regionalization of the channels of communication in the country. The Sindicato dos Jornalists de Sao Paulo can be contacted at Rua Rego Frieras 530, Sao Paulo. Telephone (011) 257-1633.

On Friday last, October 25, a rumour circulated in the city of Sao Paulo that the archives of the former DOPS (Department of Political and Social Order of Sao Paulo - Departamento de Ordem Politica e Social de Sao Paulo) would be burned. The DOPS was the government organ which was one of the greatest violators of human rights during the military regime in Brazil. The Justice and Peace Commission of the Archdiocese of Sao Paulo received an anonymous phonecall saying that the archives would be burned.

Until the present moment, the entities who work in the area of human rights have been unable to discover the origin of the rumour. Helena Pereira dos Santos, president of the group Torture Never Again (Tortura Nunca Mais) believes that the rumour was false since such an act would be a serious violation of the rights of the people to know their past; she further believes that many facts of the past would only be known when these archives are opened. The group Tortura Nunca Mais can be contacted at the following address: Rua Antonio Carlos 196, Apto 61/B, 01309 Sao Paulo, SP. Telephone (011) 289-8968. In the State of Rio de Janeiro the Lawyers Association (Ordem dos Advogados do Brasil - OAB-RJ) plan to demand that the Federal Police and other government bodies release information in their custody relating to people who disappeared or were killed during the military regime.

Since September 29, 1989 when former President Jose Sarney promulgated decree 99.227, the ranch known as "Carrapatinho" in the township of Garuva, State of Santa Caterina is considered apt for use in agrarian reform. For more than 4 years now, 35 landless families want to be settled there. On November 4, 1988 they were expelled for the first time. On October 16, 1991 the landless families returned and occupied Carrapathinho.

The rancher requested that the judge, Gilberto Gomes de Oliveira of the city of Joinville, reinstate him there. On October 22 last, the judge gave an order that a herd of buffalos be removed from the ranch. However, what really happened was nothing less than a major conflict between the military police and the landless families. 12 members of these families were imprisioned; 4 remain in jail until this moment. The judge claims that he only authorized the removal of the buffalos but what in fact happened was the removal of the 35 landless families.

To denounce these events, a number of entities in the region, including the Centre for the Defense of Human Rights in Joinville, State of Santa Catarina (Centro de Defesa de Diretos Humanos de Joinville /SC) have formed a support committee and will promote a public protest on November 4 next in the town of Garuva, State of Santa Caterina at 9.00 AM. The date coincides with the fourth anniversary of the first expulsion of the 35 landless families. The Centre for the Defense of Human Rights in Joinville, ask that letters and other messages of protest be sent to the judge demanding the immediate release of the imprisioned workers. The address of the judge is :

Dr. Gilberto Gomes de Oliveira, Juiz Substituto da 1a. Vara Civil de Joinville/SC, Rua Princesa Isabel S/N, 89.200 Joinville, SC, Brazil.

The Centre for the Defense of Human Rights also requests that similiar messages demanding that the 35 families be settled immediately on this land be sent to the supervisor of INCRA - Instituto Nacional de Colonizacao e Reforma Agraria (The National Institute of Colonization and Agrarian Reform) The address is :-

Dr. Helio Wolf, Superintendente do INCRA, Rua Tenente Silveira 16, 2 Andar, 88.000 Florianopolis, SC, Brazil. Copies of the above messages or messages of solidarity should be sent to:-

Centro de Defesa dos Diretos Humanos de Joinville/SC, Caixa Postal 70, 89.200 Joinville, SC, Brazil Phone (0474)22 91 98.

We would here like to stress the importance of letters and messages of protest. Brazilian authorities are VERY sensitive to the arrival of such messages from abroad and so your message can make a SIGNIFICANT contribution. On the other hand, messages of support are equally appreciated by individuals and entities working in the general area of human rights in Brazil. We request that you and your friends send such messages to the individuals, groups and authorities we will list each week in "News from Brazil".

Entities in the process of construction of a Central Organization of the Brazilian Grassroot Movements (Comissao Pro Central dos Movimentos Populares do Brasil) organized on October 18, 19 and 20 last the Second National Plenary Meeting of the Grassroot Movements (Segunda Plenaria dos Movimentos Populares). This event took place in the city of Sao Bernardo do Campo, State of Sao Paulo. 230 people from 23 states participated counting delegates, observers and invited guests. Jose Albino, a member of the Pro Central, stated that the meeting evaluated the process of the construction of the Central de Movimento Populares and planned the foundation of a permanent Central Commission in 1993.

Maria Aparecida Gonsalves, another member of the Pro Central, said that the meeting made a serious analysis of the national situation , this analysis indicated that today more than ever there are sufficent reasons for people to be involved in a democratic struggle. The following is the letter of the Grassroot Movements addressed to Brazilian Society:-

L-!----!----!----!----!----!----!----!----!--------!----!---R

"Representatives of the Grassroot Movement from 20 states, united in the Second National Plenary Meeting of the Grassroot Movements in the city of Sao Bernardo do Campo, Sao Paulo, make the following declaration to the people and to Brazilian society: The last 500 years have been years of exploitation and domination; they took away our gold, our silver, our wood, our minerals; they decimated our indians and took their lands; they enslaved the negro who built the national wealth; now they take our sweat and our blood through exports and in the payment of the foreign debt. The situation of our country is dramatic. The plan of the Collor Government increased our hopelessness, our hunger and misery. The recession, reduced salaries and unemployement have provoked an all time low in the history of our country. The lack of an agrarian reform and of an agricultural policy increases the rural exodus and the L!--!-!----!----!----!----!----!----!----!----!--------!----!---R supersaturation of our cities.

L-!----!----!----!----!----!----!----!----!--------!----!---R The proposed Constitutional Emendment is an attack on democracy. They want to tear away from us the few advantages we gained in the Constitution after a long period of struggle.

L!----!----!----!----!----!----!----!----!----!--------!----!---R The situation of housing, health and environmen is terrifying. Children and youth are exterminated.Ruralworkers are assassinated. Human rights are not respected. WE NEVER HAD MORE MOTIVES TO BE INVOLVED IN A STRUGGLE.

L-!----!----!----!----!----!----!----!----!--------!----!---R For this reason, we call on the Brazilian population to involve itself in the struggle. Let’s form the First National Articulation Group of Grassroot Movements (Primeira Caravana Nacional dos Movimentsos Populares) to go to Brasilia with our demands.

We call on the sindicates, on all the movements and entities who work with the people promoting a just society and participative democracy to demand an end to the payment of the foreign debt, an urban and agrarian reform and the rights of citizenship. Let’s struggle to build the Central Committee of Grassroot Movements.

Sao Bernardo do Campo. October 20, 1991".

L!----!----!----!----!----!----!----!----!----!--------!----!---R For more information about the Pro Central dos Movimentos Populares the address is:- Rua Dr. Flaquer 824, 09710 Sao Bernardo do Campo, Sao Paulo, Brazil Phone (011) 414-1844.

"The Statute of Children and Youth is not being obeyed" This denouncement was made by Joao de Deus do Nascimento who is a member of the State of Sao Paulo coordination of the National Movement of the Street Children (Movimento Nacional dos Meninos e Meninas de Rua) at a meeting in Sao Paulo on October 26 and 27 in which participated 35 leaders of the Movement from various cities in the State of Sao Paulo. The leaders of this Movement are appealing to mayors and leaders of civil society to implement in each municipality the Municipality Council in Defense of Children and Youth as is demanded in the above mentioned Statute. Judges with responsibility for children and youth were called on to speed up the formation of the Council of Guardians of Children and Youth (Conselho Tutelar da Crianca e do Adolescente) in every municipality. At this point in time the four priorities of the National Movement of the Street Children are:-

1. Children and youth in situations of violence.

2. The organization and training of street - children.

3. The organization and training of people who work with such children.

4. The structuring of the Movement.

Contact can be made with the Movimento Nacional dos Meninos e Meninas de Rua at the following address:- Rua Dr. Eduardo Martinelli 122, 04013 Sao Paulo, SP, Brazil. Phone (011)575-8653.

The reproduction of this material is permitted as long as the source is cited. 

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