Number 277, June 26, 1997.

LAND ISSUES

- Increase in number of assassinations.

According to a survey carried out by the Pastoral Land Commission (CPT) 54 rural workers were assassinated during 1996. This compares to 41 deaths in 1995, 47 in 1994, 52 in 1993 and 47 in 1992. The CPT believes that tension involving land questions has increased due to the growth of rural impoverishment. Impunity also has contributed to the growth of rural assassinations. According to the CPT 976 assassinations have occurred since 1985 not only of rural workers but of professionals such as lawyers and clergy who accompanied communities threatened by violence. In this period a mere 7 people responsible for the almost thousand assassinations have been condemned in 56 trials. CPT statistics show that until June 19, 17 people were assassinated due to rural violence this year.

- Government introduces new regulations to stem land occupation by the landless.

On June 12 the government introduced a package of decrees and regulations geared to inhibit the occupation of unused areas by the landless. This had been the chief tactic used by the Movement of Landless Workers (MST) to force the government to settle landless families. According to the new regulations areas which are occupied will no longer be considered for exappropiation. The government has now promised to carry out the studies and surveys necessary for exappropiation within a time limit of 120 days at most. On the other hand the new laws mean that unrealistically high compensation will no longer be paid to owners of areas which are exappropriated.

Reacting to the new government measures the MST threatened to occupy areas which the organization had not previously occupied. These include especially areas used for cattle rearing. "A 1.4 hectare area which is used during fours year only to fatten one animal worth approximately US $360 cannot be considered productive .... Largescale cattle grazing is an obstacle to agrarian reform in south-eastern and southern regions" commented MST leader Gilmar Mauro. He went on to comment that such an area could produce 30 sacks of beans worth almost US $900 during a three month's period. He recalled the urgency of agrarian reform in the State of Sao Paulo where 5 thousand landless families live in campments and a further 12 thousand await settlement on lands yet to be exappropriated.

Commenting on the new government regulations the national office of the Pastoral Land Commission (CPT) said that they "are contradictory because on one side they have a Provisional Law Measure (Medida Provisoria) to facilitate and speed up exappropiation processes and on the other hand they have a Law Decree (Decreto-Lei) which impedes that occupied areas be considered for exappropiation. These contradictions are part of a clear strategy put in place by the government which endeavors on one hand to gain for itself an image that it is carrying out an agrarian reform and on the other wishing to criminalize and demobilize the grassroots movement which has been struggling for land. This criminalizing tendency was also seen on June 11 last in Pedro Canario (State of Espirito Santo) in the absurd condemnation without proof of Jose Rainha Junior, national leader of the MST, by a local jury strongly influenced by the interests of the propertied elite. The very fact that the government picked a date immediately after the condemnation of Rainha to launch this package which had been ready for quite some time is no accident but indicates a clear intention to use the opportunity to try and intimidate the MST".

- "There is no hard evidence against Rainha" comments judge.

Judge Sebastiao Mattos Mozine who presided over the trial of Jose Rainha Junior earlier this month in Pedro Canario, State of Espirito Santo (for more details see the last edition of NEWS FROM BRAZIL) commented in an interview in the 'Folha de Sao Paulo' newspaper on June 14 that there was no hard evidence or proof given during the trial that Rainha was guilty. Following the decision of the jury, Jose Rainha was sentenced to 26 years and six months imprisonment but remains free until the retrial in September.

Meanwhile the MST is in the process of compiling further evidence that Jose Rainha was not in Pedro Canario on June 05, 1989 when he was accused of assassinating a rancher and a police man during the occupation of a ranch by landless workers. He claims that on the date in question he was on the Quixada ranch 168 kms from the city of Forteleza, State of Ceara, organizing the occupation of that ranch by other landless families. "We hope to find a photo, a document or something which will clearly prove that Rainha was in Ceara. If we don't we will bring along the 2200 people who were settled on the ranch as witnesses to the next trial" commented local MST leader Fatima Ribeiro. Over 20 well known popular singers have recorded a song defending the innocence of Jose Rainha Junior.

CHILDREN'S ISSUES

- Result of yet another trial causes national indignation.

On June 19, a jury composed of five men and two women absolved former police man Nelson Oliveira dos Santos Cunha who had been accused of being involved in the assassination of eight street children near the Candelaria church in Rio de Janeiro in July 1993. At an earlier trial Cunha had been found guilty and had been sentenced to a total of 261 years imprisonment. According to Brazilian law those who are sentenced to 20 or more years imprisonment are entitled to a re-trial. Seven others (six of whom were military police men at the time of the crime) have also been accused of being responsible for the assassination of the street children.

As a self defense tactic in court Cunha decided not respond to the judge's questions at the trial. His lawyer, Mauricio Neville, accepted that he was present when the children were assassinated; that he accidentally fired on and injured one of the survivors but that he was responsible for the deaths of none of the children. This version had been rejected by the jury of the first trial where he had been condemned by six of the seven jurors. At the recent trial, 5 of the 7 jurors accepted that he was innocent of the deaths of the children.

The public prosecutor responsible for the case, Gloria Percinto, commented immediately after the sentence that she would request another trial. Even though he was declared innocent of the deaths of the children, Cunha was not freed from jail. He presently serves an 18 year sentence for the attempted assassination of a survivor of the massacre - Wagner dos Santos. His lawyer plans to request that his total sentence be reduced to six years.

Commenting on the result of the trial, lawyer Cristina Leonardo, coordinator of the Brazilian Center for the Rights of Children and Adolescents said that "the children were victims twice over: of the exterminators and of the jury. The culture of extermination won out". "The jury represents society whose prejudices it carries. There are people who are not preoccupied by the fact that the police would kill a street child" commented James Cavallaro of Human Rights Watch. "We are beginning to explain that the justice system is the way to overcome disrespect of human rights and it is clear that society is perplexed with the two trials which have had radically different results" commented Jose Gregori responsible for the federal government's Nacional Plan for Human Rights which was launched last year.

- Majority of denouncements of the abuse of children and adolescents ignored.

The Brazilian Multi- Professional Association for the Protection of Children and Youth (ABRAPIA) denounced 708 cases of sexual exploitation to the relevant authorities in different Brazilian states between February and May of this year. However the Association has only received notification of the investigation of 98 (13.8%) of the cases according to a report in the 'Folha de Sao Paulo' on June 13.

"This is very preoccupying. It represents a ridiculously low rate of examination of grave denouncements. Investigation should be 100%" commented the executive secretary of the State Attorneys for Citizenship of Sao Paulo, Fernando Capez. The largest number of denouncements were registered in the State of Sao Paulo. Of a total of 727 denouncements registered between the beginning of February and June 11, 150 (20.6%) were in Sao Paulo.

According to a recent survey carried out by the SOS Children (SOS Crianca) which is linked to the Sao Paulo State Secretariat for Children, Family and Social Well-Being, the number of cases of sexual violence committed against children increased by 348% between January and April of this year when this period is compared to the same months of last year - 38 cases were registered during this period in 1996 and 175 cases during 1997. According to Lauro Monteiro, president of ABRAPIA, 15% of all cases of child sexual abuse recorded by the Association involve sexual tourism.

The investigation of denouncements of child sexual abuse is more rigorous in some states than in others. In Sao Paulo, Parana and Ceara an average of 41.7% of denouncements are investigated. In other states denouncements led to the imprisonment of those responsible in 6.1% of the cases. On a national level 3.5% of all denouncements were registered in the north; 33.9% in the north-east; 11.2% in the center-west; 41.4% in the south-east and 10% in the south.

ECOLOGY

- Large quantities of timber sized.

Since the beginning of June the Brazilian IBAMA (the federal government environmental agency) has seized 20 thousand cubic meters of illegally harvested timber in the Amazonian region. The largest part of the timber was found south of the city of Manaus in the river Purus where kilometers of felled hardwood was being floated down the river. Forest clearance and the extraction of hardwood from the Amazonian region has increased significantly since 1995 with the arrival in the region of Malaysian lumber companies.

"The Amazonian region will have to take care so that it is not transformed into a situation similar to that in the south of Para or Rondonia where the pressure from ranching practically wiped out the forest. The Amazon is the next target" commented the regional superintendent of IBAMA, Hamilton Casara. According to IBAMA's estimates, of every 10 cubic meters of hardwood which is exported from Amazonia, 8 cubic meters have been illegally harvested. Most of this timber is cut in private areas or on the indigenous reserves. Indians and members of the riverside communities are paid just under US $10 per tree which is felled. At the exportation end of the process the lumber merchant receives on average just over US $300 for the tree.

- Work on waterway halted by court order.

Work on the Araguaia - Tocantins - Rio das Mortes Waterway (hidrovia) which is one of the current engineering projects on a 42 item priority list of the federal government was suspended in recent days by a court order. The question had been brought to court by the Xavante indigenous group in Mato Grosso. The Federal court in the state capital, Cuiaba, ruled that the project should stop and imposed a daily fine of US $90 thousand if the court order should be disobeyed. The waterway was planned as an exit for grain production from the region to ports in the States of Para and Maranhao.

In the ruling, federal judge Jeferson Schneider ordered the Companhia Docas do Para which is responsible for the project to immediately stop work on the project and not to authorize other companies to carry out such work. The judge also ordered IBAMA to take the necessary steps to ensure that work on the project would stop. The decision of the judge was based on the fact that an environmental license had not been granted by IBAMA to carry out the work on the waterway and that the constitutional demand that the construction of such waterways passing through indigenous areas must be authorized by the National Congress after it has consulted the communities concerned, was not adhered to. Two Xavante communities of approximately 1600 people live near the proposed route of the waterway in the municipalities of Agua Boa and Nova Xavantina.

SOCIAL ISSUES

- Military police strike in Minas Gerais ends in a battle.

Military police and detectives belonging to the state civil police marched in Belo Horizonte, State of Minas Gerais on June 24 demanding better salaries. The marchers entered into conflict with other military police who were guarding the Governor's Palace (Palacio da Liberdade) as well as the police headquarters in the central area of the city. During the march shots were exchanged between both sides and 36 year old policeman, Valerio dos Santos Oliveira, was seriously injured when he sustained a head wound. Few expected that military police would take to the streets to protest; now many expect that similar demonstrations will spread to other states.

The army was called in to protect the Governor's Palace and continued on the streets next day. Even though negotiations took place later in the day between the vice governor and the leaders of the police who went on protest little progress was made. The police announced that they would remain without working in their battalion headquarters until a solution has been found. Approximately 12 thousand of a total of just over 41 thousand military police in the state work in the state capital of Minas Gerais. They are demanding a pay rise which would bring their monthly salaries to US $800 - the average wage at the moment is approximately half that amount. On June 13 last, 400 military police had also marched in Belo Horizonte demanding an increase in salary.

- 8 judges removed in State of Paraiba.

The head of the Superior Work Tribunal, Minister Almir Pazzianotto removed all the judges of the Regional Superior Work Tribunal of the State of Paraiba on June 24. The minister's decision followed an inquiry carried out which pointed to numerous irregularities committed by the judges. Amongst the accusations against the judges are nepotism, corruption and misuse of public funds. Some of the judges had employed near relatives whose monthly salaries were in the US $5 thousand range. According to Minister Pazzianotto this is the first occasion in the history of the Brazilian work courts that the entire body of judges has been removed.

- Quality of professional life worsens in Sao Paulo city.

According to a report in the 'Folha de Sao Paulo' the quality of the professional life of the inhabitants of the city of Sao Paulo worsened since the introduction of the new economic plan (Plano Real) at the beginning of July 1994. In a survey carried out by the newspaper, 25% claimed that the quality of their professional life worsened; for 19% the quality improved and for 56% it remained as it was. The findings of the survey are backed up by official figures. Data for example of the Ministry of Labor shows that 113 thousand registered jobs were lost in the city during the period and the job-market is 4% smaller than in 1994 even though there has been an increase in the working age group in the population.

The profile of the group which lost most during this period as the work-market readjusted are workers who had finished their high school education and in some cases people with third level professional formation. In such cases the monthly salary is usually under US $1100 and many do not have health plans. The survey found that this group is now by and large very vocal in its' criticism of the federal government. Workers in two areas were particularly hard hit - executives employed by firms which decided to restructure and employees affected by the increased importation after the economic plan. On the other hand the group which gained most since the introduction of the economic plan are those with salaries of over US $2200 per month - many of this group have professional university qualifications and were found in the survey to be generally supportive of government economic policies.

INDIGENOUS ISSUES

- Newsletter of the Indigenous Missionary Council (CIMI).

HARDWOOD IN INDIGENOUS AREAS IS COVETED BY

INTERNATIONAL TIMBER COMPANIES

The territories of the indigenous peoples of Amazonia and forest reservations are the main target of the illegal timber trade promoted by national and multinational corporations which operate not only in Malaysia, but also in the United States and England. The shameful omission and neglect of the Fernando Henrique administration allows this sordid theft to continue, causing serious conflicts in indigenous areas.

Yesterday, June 18, the Brazilian government showed that it connives at these criminal activities, as it made clear its position against the inclusion of mahogany in a list of endangered species during the Convention on Endangered Species being held in Harare, capital of Zimbabwe, which is being attended by representatives of 123 countries. Sixty-seven countries voted against the inclusion of that hardwood in the list, while 47 voted in favor of it.

The president of Ibama (Brazilian Institute for Environment and Renewable Natural Resources), Eduardo Martins, head of the Brazilian delegation, was ridiculous to the point of abstaining from voting and at the same time defending the exploitation of mahogany. In addition to including representatives of the Association of Export Timber Companies (Aimex), headquartered in the state of Para, in his delegation, he pressured representatives of other countries to vote in favor of the claims of multinational timber companies.

The Brazilian government paid no attention to a report issued by the Secretariat for Strategic Affairs (SAE) denouncing the theft of hardwood by Asian companies, according to reports in the national press. The report shows that 80% of the timber they trade is being illegally exploited.

CONFLICTS IN INDIGENOUS AREAS

According to Greenpeace, Brazil is the main exporter of mahogany in the world. The forests where this hardwood can be found are concentrated in the states of Acre, Para, Rondonia, Amazonas, Mato Grosso and Maranhao, where indigenous areas and forest reserves are located. Still according to that organization, at least three million 100 thousand cubic meters of mahogany were exported between 1971 and 1990, most of which left the country illegally.

According to data collected by the Indianist Missionary Council, hardwood - particularly mahogany - was stolen from 33 indigenous areas in 1996. In some cases, the Indians themselves are persuaded by woodcutters take part in these activities, but most indigenous leaders condemn this illegal trade, which has caused serious environmental damages in their territories. The Tembe Indians of the state of Para are an example of this, as they even seized four trucks loaded with timber which were released by Ibama afterwards, outraging them. In addition to these incidents, indigenous populations are repeatedly threatened by woodcutters and some Indians have been murdered by them

in recent years.

Brasilia, 19 June 1997

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