Number 289, October 09, 1997.

CHURCHES

- Pope's visit to Rio de Janeiro.

The news item which got most attention within Brazil during the last week has been the visit of Pope John Paul 2 to Rio de Janeiro. Since his arrival on the afternoon of Thursday October 03 until his departure during the late afternoon of the following Sunday much of the TV, radio and newspaper space was given over to the visit. The Pope's visit was scheduled to coincide with the closing of an international church congress on the family (Second World Meeting of the Family) held in Rio de Janeiro and so much of what he said at the congress and at the other public engagements where he was present was focused on this topic.

The image of the Pope presented by the TV coverage was that of a very fragile person who experienced great difficulty even to walk but mentally extremely alert and with a very incisive message to give. Initially the message focused on social questions. On the plane shortly after take-off from Rome he gave a short interview to the journalists who accompanied him. When invited by a journalist to speak about Brazilian social problems he singled out the question of the landless and stated that social problems provoke serious difficulties for families.

During his first speech on Brazilian soil in the presence of President Fernando Henrique Cardoso the Pope continued to condemn social inequalities. He recalled the great natural, cultural and religious riches of Brazil and remarked ''certainly social inequalities, the unequal and unjust distribution of riches which has caused urban and rural conflicts; the need of an availability of the basic needs of health and culture; the problems of the unprotected children of the large cities, to mention just a few items, are for those who govern a challenge of enormous proportions. It is my hope that the values of the cultural and religious patrimony of the Brazilian nation help to stimulate just decisions in favor of family values and of the country''.

He then went on to single out two groups in the Brazilian population - the indigenous peoples and afro-brazilians. Reflecting on the significant contribution of the indigenous peoples he commented ''they deserve every attention so that they may live with dignity their own culture''. On the afro-brazilians he commented ''By their notable presence in the history and in the cultural formation of this country, these Brazilians of African origin, deserve, have a right to and may reasonably demand and hope for the maximum respect for the fundamental characteristics of their culture so that these characteristics may continue to enrich the culture of this nation into which they are perfectly integrated as citizens enjoying their full rights''. On the following morning in a private 40 minute meeting with President Cardoso the social problems of Brazil were the chief item on the agenda.

On the evening of October 04, the Pope addressed the closing session of the Meeting on the Family. As was expected his talk outlined the traditional values attributed by the Catholic Church to the family and drew attention to attacks on the family from various sources in today's world. The following morning in a capacity filled cathedral the Pope also preached on the importance of the family basing his words on John 2:1. That night in a packed football stadium (Maracana) Pope John Paul 2 severely criticized abortion and divorce. Injustice which marginalized numerous families was also criticized by the Pope - ''misery destroys the family, it impeded access to culture and basic education, it corrupts values and in its' very roots it destroys the health of youth and adults. He then went on to request that those ''who work for the construction of a new society'' struggle for '' just laws which combat misery and unemployment''. On Sunday morning the Pope celebrated a mass for an estimated 2 million people who gathered on one of the city beaches (Aterro do Flamengo) having as a backdrop one of the most beautiful scenes in the world - Rio's beautiful Sugar Loaf mountain. Once again he emphasized the traditional Catholic values of marriage.

Brazil's enormous social problems are very obvious on the streets of Rio de Janeiro through the presence of numerous street children, homeless and beggars. A few days before the Pope's arrival a 'cleansing' of the city took place and such street dwellers were removed. This operation was severely criticized by NGOs. Nor did two large massacres by the military police of Rio shanty-town (favela) dwellers get much coverage in the media during the Pope's visit. On Saturday (October 04) police of the 3rd. military battalion massacred six men in the Aguia de Ouro in the Meier neighborhood in the northern region of the city. The same battalion massacred five men on the morning of the Pope's arrival (Thursday, October 04) in the Rato Molhado favela in the northern neighborhood of Engenho Novo.

CHILDREN'S ISSUES

- 1 million illiterate adolescents in Brazil.

According to recent statistics of the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) there are currently 1007149 illiterate adolescents in the 15 to 19 age group in Brazil. This represents 7% of the total of this age group in the country. According to official statistics 17% of the total Brazilian population is illiterate.

A large part of this group is found in the north-east of the country - 824160 or 16% of the entire population of the region. In the south-east the number is 137555 or 2% of the region's population. 33909 were registered in the north - 4% of the population. 37017 illiterate adolescents are found in the center-west - 3% of the total population. The south has 44508 such adolescents - 2% of the region's entire population.

''We really need a huge educational effort in the country. To have a number this large of illiterate adolescents is a huge disaster.... What the numbers show is that with localized programs for the training of adolescents the problem cannot be resolved. What we need is a national policy (on education)'' commented Felicia Madeira of the Seade Foundation who also has been surveying this question.

A study carried out recently by the Seade Foundation showed that 12% of all adolescents (1.9 million) in the country are neither in school nor working. ''This is the type of situation which leads to juvenile delinquency'' commented Ms. Madeira. In all of Brazil there are 15.8 million adolescents in the 15 to 19 age group or 10.4% of the entire population.

- Infant malnutrition has fallen by half in the city of Sao Paulo.

According to a recent study of the University of Sao Paulo (USP), infant malnutrition in children under five years of age has fallen by half in the city of Sao Paulo during the last ten years. According to Carlos Augusto Monteiro, professor of the Department of Nutrition in the School of Public Health of USP, in 1974, 44.8% of children presented some retardation in growth. Between 1984 and 1985 malnutrition numbers stood at 30.6% of all children. At the moment, 13.7% of children under 5 years in the city could be considered to be malnourished.

According to Professor Monteiro the survey showed that the life quality of the population in general of the city's population has improved - ''children and mothers are better fed, almost 100% of the children have been vaccinated and the level of education improved significantly''. He points to a survey made in military records. Comparing average heights of youth who presented themselves for military service between 1968 and 1994 an average increase in height of 6 cms. has been detected over the period - 1.75 meters now compared to 1.69 meters in 1968. Professor Monteiro claims that this increase as well indicates an improvement in the diet of children.

Professor Monteiro lists a number of reasons for the improvement in nutrition of children. In the first instance the income level has improved. In 1985, 22.9% of children lived in families whose income was half a minimum salary per month. Last year, when the monthly minimum salary was just over US $100, 9.2% of children lived in such families. In 1985, 39.2% of the children lived in families with an income of over one minimum salary. At the moment, 66.3% of children in the city of Sao Paulo live in such families. On the other hand the educational standard of mothers has improved significantly in recent years. In 1985, 10.1% of all mothers in the city had never been to school. Last year this number had dropped to 1.3%. In 1985, mothers who had spent five years or more at school made up 43.1% of the total. At the moment 75.8% of mothers have spent at least five years in school. Professor Monteiro believes that mothers with a higher level of education are more demanding - for example they will insist in having their children vaccinated and will seek a better nutritional level for them.

Basic sanitation services have also improved in recent years. In 1985 for example, 87.8% lived in houses connected to a public water supply. Today this number has increased to 94.4%. In 1985, 81.7% of children were vaccinated. This number stood at 98.3% in 1996. Infant mortality rates also dropped in the city during this period. However this drop did not accompany the rate of decline in infant malnutrition. Figures for 1973 for example show that 87 children under one year died per thousand live births. In 1985 this figure had decreased to 36.5 / 1000 and by 1995 to 25.5 / 1000. Twenty years ago, 10% of all children were under 2500 grams at birth. Today the figure is similar. Professor Monteiro points to three reasons for the fact that improvements have not been recorded in this area. In 1975, 1.4% of children born had mothers under 18 years of age. This number increased to 4.2% in 1980 and last year it stood at 7%. The number of pregnant mothers who smoke is also still very high. In 1985 43.3% of women who gave birth in the city of Sao Paulo smoked; this number stood at 31.7% last year. The number of caesarean births is very high in the city. In 1985, 47% of births were caesarean - this percentage has remained unchanged until today. Such births are programmed and thus frequently bring forward the birth by days and in many cases by weeks.

- Number of adolescent abortions triple in the city of Maceio, State of Alagoas.

According to a report in the 'Folha de Sao Paulo' the number of adolescents who are having abortions in public health hospitals is increasing significantly in the city of Maceio even though there are legal constraints on such abortions. During all of 1996, 317 adolescents had abortions in the public hospitals of the city. The figures for this year are not available from all of the hospitals but indications are that the number of adolescents having abortions have increased significantly in the city. In one such hospital - the Santa Monica, 571 adolescents had had an abortion during the first eight months of this current year. A hospital spokesperson commented that approximately 80% of this number were performed after the adolescent had provoked the abortion usually by using medication prescribed for ulcers.

INDIGENOUS ISSUES

Last April we reported the assassination of Pataxo Ha-ha-hae indian, Galdino Jesus de Santos, in Brasilia. He was set alight by a number of middle class youth while he slept at a bus stop having been locked out of the hostel where he was staying. He had gone to Brasilia to demand the demarcation of his group's territory by the federal government. The youth responsible were arrested but in recent weeks the judge has down-scaled the accusations against them. We include underneath an appeal prepared by the Indigenous Missionary Council (CIMI) requesting you to ask the authorities to reverse the judge's decision. Please support this appeal.

INTERNATIONAL CAMPAIGN

JUSTICE FOR GALDINO JESUS DOS SANTOS!

The brutal murder of Pataxo Ha-ha-hae Indian Galdino Jesus dos Santos is extremely likely to go unpunished, like many other crimes in Brazil. This week, judge Sandra de Santis outraged society once again by rejecting a request filed by the Office of the Attorney General to review her previous decision, according to which Galdino's murder was not a hideous crime, as the prosecutors describe it, but rather assault and battery followed by death. With this ruling, judge Sandra de Santis disregarded a basic legal principle, according to which when there is doubt regarding a crime, a jury should be assigned to judge it. Santis did not respond to the appeals from society, which wants an exemplary punishment for the murderers of Indians and beggars who sleep on the streets of Brazil.

Indian Galdino Jesus dos Santos was burned alive on the night of April 20, when he was sleeping at a bus stop in Brasilia. So far, the five murderers of Galdino were the only ones to be recognized among many other criminals who for years have been burning beggars who sleep in the open air.

Society has the right to judge.

Moved by this spirit, we are asking all individuals and organizations which sympathize with the indigenous cause and the ordeal of hundreds of beggars who have been burned on the Brazilian streets, to send faxes and telegrams to the chief justice of the Court of Appeals of the Federal District and Territories, Carlos Augusto Machado de Farias, and copies of the same message to president Fernando Henrique Cardoso and to the minister of Justice, Iris Resende, calling on that court to correct the mistake of judge Sandra de Santis, in behalf of justice.

Sample Letter:

Most Worthy Chief Judge

Carlos Augusto Machado de Farias

``We would like to express out indignation at the ruling of judge Sandra de Santis, who considered the brutal murder of Pataxo Ha-ha-hae Indian Galdino Jesus dos Santos as `assault and battery followed by death,' referring the case to a single criminal court. According to the Constitution, the crime should be judged by a jury trial, in tune with the principle that when there is doubt regarding a crime, society should judge it.

We hope that this mistake will be corrected by the Court of Appeals of the Federal District and Territories, and that society will be ensured its right to judge the crime in question, which has been denied by the chief justice of the Jury Court of Brasilia.

We are certain that Your Honor will do everything within Your power to ensure the correct application of the law in your court.

Yours Sincerely,''

Telegrams and faxes are to be sent to:

Chief Judge Carlos Augusto Machado de Farias

Chief Justice of the Court of Appeals of the Federal District

Palacio da Justica

Praca do Buriti

70000-000 - Brasilia - DF

Fax: (061) 321-6685

With copies for:

President Fernando Henrique Cardoso

Palacio do Planalto

3. andar - Praca dos Tres Poderes

70150-900 - Brasilia - DF

Fax: (061) 226-7566

Minister of State for Justice

Iris Resende

Esplanada dos Ministerios, Bloco ``T''

70000-000 - Brasilia - DF

Fax: (061) 322-6817

Brasilia, 2 October 1997

Indianist Missionary Council - Cimi

SIGNED PETITION

GALDINO JESUS DOS SANTOS COMMITTEE

(Cimi, Capoib, and the Human Rights and Consumer Defence, and

Environment and Minorities Committees of the Chamber of Deputies)

To His Excellency

CHIEF JUDGE CARLOS AUGUSTO MACHADO DE FARIA

Chief Justice of the Court of Appeals of the Federal District

Praca do Buriti, Palacio da Justica

Brasilia - DF - 70000-000

We, the undersigned, would like to express out indignation at the ruling of judge Sandra de Santis, which considered the brutal murder of Pataxo Ha-ha-hae Indian Galdino Jesus dos Santos as ``assault and battery followed by death'', referring the case to a single criminal court. According to the Constitution, the crime should be judged by a jury trial, in tune with the principle that when there is doubt regarding a crime, society should judge it.

We hope that this mistake will be corrected by the Court of Appeals of the Federal District and Territories, and that society will be ensured its right to judge the crime in question, which has been denied by the chief justice of the Jury Court of Brasilia.

NAME ID. NUMBER SIGNATURE

Kindly send the lists to:

Cimi,

Edificio Venancio III - Sala 309,

Brasilia,

DF - 70393-900,

Brazil.

SOCIAL ISSUES

- Sao Paulo: Prison rebellions double.

1997 has seen an explosion of prisoners' rebellions in the State of Sao Paulo. 14 rebellions in prisons have taken place so far this year as compared to a total of 16 for all of 1995 and 1996. 18 rebellions of prisoners held in police stations in the city of Sao Paulo have taken place so far this year - this compares with a total of 16 last year. The rebellions have happened in a context of an increasing number of prisoners held both in prisons and in police stations - in both locations there has been an increase of 20% since last year.

To resolve the severe overcrowding and consequent tension in the prisons and police stations, the government of the State of Sao Paulo plans to inaugurate 21 new prisons by October 1998 according to a report in the 'Folha de Sao Paulo' on October 07. The total cost will be in the region of US $170 million and a further 17.5 thousand prison places should be available when the new prisons are ready. The government plans to close its' largest prison - the Casa de Detencao in the city of Sao Paulo, which at the moment holds 6 thousand prisoners but has capacity for only 4 thousand.

There are currently 36 thousand prisoners being held in prison space designed to hold 24 thousand. In the city of Sao Paulo alone, 8099 prisoners are held in police stations because of lack of space in prisons. In the city's 92 police stations the overcrowding of prisoners is chronic - approximately 1500 spaces for prisoners are available for more 8 thousand prisoners held in the police stations. The situation has been worsened with the increase in the number of prisoners held in the police stations. On January 02 last, 6648 prisoners were being held in the city's police stations. The current figures represent an increase of 21.83% since then. In most of the rebellions, the prisoners claim that overcrowding has been responsible for their unrest. Prison escapes have also been diminished this year and this has also helped to increase the tension. In 1996, 1324 prisoners managed to escape in the city of Sao Paulo. So far this year 755 prisoners have escaped. ''I believe that 99% of the rebellions happened as a result of frustrated escape attempts... It is impossible to recuperate a prisoner in a police station where it is not possible to work. Such people end up worse'' commented police chief Mauro de Andrade.

Several rebellions of prisoners have taken place in recent days in the State of Sao Paulo. In the city of Jacarei military police subdued such a rebellion on October 06. 129 prisoners are being held in cells with space for 80 prisoners. Overcrowding was also the motive for a rebellion of prisoners in the police station in Campinas also on October 06. Here 185 prisoners are being held in a space constructed to hold 24. On October 07 the city of Sao Paulo had four prison rebellions (3 in police stations and one in the Casa de Detencao prison) in a space of 13 hours. In all cases overcrowding was one of the chief motives for the rebellions.

HEALTH ISSUES

- Deaths from AIDS decrease less amongst illiterate.

According to a report in the 'Folha de Sao Paulo' on October 05, the cocktail used to treat people with AIDS has increased the survival period in the city of Sao Paulo but the effects are different according to the social class and the locality of residence of the AIDS patient. For example the decrease in the number of deaths from AIDS in the city has been three times less amongst illiterate people than amongst those who have a university education according to a survey published by the Pro-Aim organization last week.

The survey studied deaths caused by the HIV virus in the city of Sao Paulo since 1991 and discovered that the biggest changes can be noticed when last year is compared to the current year. When the first six months of last year are compared to the corresponding period of this year, a drop of 54% in the number of deaths of those with university education is detected. This decrease was three times larger than the decrease in the number of deaths of illiterate people (18%) over the same period. The overall decrease in the city of deaths from AIDS when the first six months of 1997 are compared to the corresponding period last year was 30%.

Location where people live also affected the death rate. On the periphery of the city and in poorer neighborhoods in general where the level of education is lower the drop in the death rate was lower. The biggest drop in death rates from AIDS were registered in the center while the lowest decreases were found in such poor regions such as Campo Limpo in the south of the city. In neighborhoods where the population in general has had a better general education the drop was 47% and in regions where the level of formal education is lower the drop was 25%. The lowest rates of decreases in the death rates were detected by women who work at home - 12% as compared to a drop of 44% amongst technicians and scientists.

Meanwhile, for the first time the army has drawn up a plan to prevent the spread of AIDS amongst its' members. The US $3.3 million plan will attend the 140 thousand permanent members of the army; 70 thousand recruits who are doing military service and the 800 thousand who are on the list for military service. 483 cases of AIDS have been registered in the army; 527 in the navy and 127 in the air-force. The Ministry of Health also announced on October 07 that 514 people have been contaminated with AIDS because of blood tranfusions since 1990. Doctor Helio Moraes, head of the blood transfusion service of the Ministry for Health admitted on October 09 that approximately 15% of blood donated in the country is not checked out. This amounts to approximately 450 thousand of the 3 million blood donations made each year and the unchecked blood for the most part is donated to private blood transfusion services and not in public health hospitals. This in theory means that approximately 1.2 million people could be receiving unchecked blood each year since each donation of blood could be used to treat as many as three people according to the 'Folha de Sao Paulo' on October 09.

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