Number 376, November 26, 1999.
Visit our home page: http://www.oneworld.org/sejup/
In this week's issue:
>NEWS BRIEFS
-MST threatens to occupy President’s estate
-Military Police arrest 13 indigenous in Bahia
-Cuts mandated by agreement with the IMF affect 25 of the 31 social programs
-Amnesty International pays tribute to "Padre Chico"
>URGENT ACTION REQUESTS
-Letter campaign request from Indianist Missionary Council
(Cimi)-Trial of Jose Rainha to begin--letter campaign requested
NEWS BRIEFS
-MST threatens to occupy President’s estate
Last week, a group affiliated with MST (Movement of rural workers Without Land) threatened to occupy President Fernando Henrique Cardoso’s farm located in the countryside of the state of Minas Gerais. The objective of the group was to pressure the government to release R$3 million promised to help to plant crops in the region. Over 200 members set up camp just outside of the President’s property. On Saturday, the Ministry of Defense ordered 250 soldiers to the area to ensure that the property would not be occupied. On Sunday, the group agreed to leave the premises with assurances from the government that the money would be released. Before they left however, they nailed a U.S. flag to the fence with an inscription, FHC + FMI = miseria (Fernando Henrique Cardoso + International Monetary Fund = misery).
In other agrarian reform news, two MST members were wounded in the state of Parana at an encampment site. According to reports, a group of armed, hooded men woke up the camp in the early morning and began shooting to scare the MSTers off the land. The men also burned four cars and a motocycle. The police were in front of the property, and kept the MSTers from returning to their camp after the incident was over. The two wounded men are reported to be in stabile condition. No arrests were made.
Source: Folha de Sao Paulo
November 20-21, 1999
-Military Police arrest 13 indigenous in Bahia
Last week, Sejup reported on a conflict between the Military Police and the Pataxo Ha-Ha-Haes in the state of Bahia which resulted in the death of two police officers. (See News from Brazil, No. 375 located on our web page.) On Friday, police arrested 13 members of the tribe. Cimi furnishes more information in the text below:
Today, at dawn, two military police were killed in a conflict involving the Pataxó Hã-hã-hãe of the Caramuru Catarina Paraguaçu, village in the county of Pau Brasil, south of Bahia. On November 16, the indigenous people recovered 2 thousand hectares of traditional territory, invaded by nine farms. Nearly 1,200 indigenous people, with support from the Pataxó from the extreme south of Bahia, participated in the recuperation. The conflict took place because the military police, who were sent by the government of Bahia, went to the area claiming "protection of other farms". The Pataxó reacted to the invasion. The Federal Police, who are in Pau Brasil and should be providing security for the indigenous people, did not approach the area during the entire day, which compelled the indigenous people to protect themselves. The President of Funai, Carlos Frederico Marés as well astwo members of parliament, representatives of the Congressional Human Rights Committee traveled to Bahia to follow up on the facts.
In a document sent to authorities and to the public, the Pataxó Hã-hã-hãe justify the recuperation charging that invaders have caused the deforestation of the territory and consequentially, the reduction of water flow of the Mundo Novo River, essential for the survival of the communities. The indigenous people also blame the slowness of the Federal Justice system because, to date, it has not judged the Action to Nullify the Property Titles held by the invaders and which was petitioned for by Funai in 1982. The conflict has been developing for 17 years and has caused the death of 13 indigenous leaders, among them, Galdino Jesus dos Santos in 1997.
The federal and state governments and the Federal Justice system are responsible for the confrontation that occurred this morning. The area is indigenous, thus the Military Police cannot involve itself in this issue, but they ignored this determination and invaded the territory. The federal government, which has the constitutional obligation to protect and demarcate the indigenous territories, does not comply with the Constitution. The Federal Police, who were near the area where the conflict occurred, acted in a partial manner because they do not respect indigenous rights, which helped give rise to the conflict.
The Caramuru village was delimited in 1926 with 54 thousand hectares. The National Indian Agency leased part of the land and, in the 70s, the government of the State of Bahia conceded property titles to farmers. The Pataxó Hã-hã-hãe were subjected to live on 2,100 hectares. "We live on this land without any conditions for a good food production as there is little land and help is not extended by the appropriate agencies to offer the minimum financial conditions or even an outlet for the little we are able to produce. Thus, we live with hunger, lack of water and without prospect of better days", explain the indigenous people.
In 1993 they tried to recover part of the territory, but they were expelled. In 1997, they were in Brasilia to claim property rights of the area, when Galdino, who was part of the delegation, was burned alive while he was sleeping at a bus stop. Revolted, they decided to retake the farms, 788 hectares, and remain there under a court decision. The process, however, has not progressed, and is the reason why their patience has run out. The climate is tense in the region. "In April of 2000, the Pataxó celebrate 500 years of Resistance and Fight. We want to have the 54,000 hectares of land in our hands on this date", state the indigenous people.
Source: Folha de Sao Paulo, November 20, 1999 & Indianist Missionary Council - Cimi, November 18, 1999
- Cuts mandated by agreement with the IMF affect 25 of the 31 social programs
The IMF (International Monetary Fund) may be saying that it is concerned with poverty, but its policies here in Brazil seem to indicate the contrary. In its agreement with the IMF to gain IMF-backed loans, the Brazilian government has cut over R$2 billion in 25 of its 31 social programs. The following are some are some areas that were cut: support for needy children dropped from R$218.6 million in 1998 to $R175.4 million in 1999; agrarian reform dropped from R$1,173.4 to R$673.5 million; money for schools, R$252.2 million to R$83.8 million; and money for basic sanitation, R$207.1 million to R$56 million.
Source: Folha de Sao Paulo
November 23, 1999
-Amnesty International pays tribute to "Padre Chico"
* News Release Issued by the International Secretariat of Amnesty> International * News Service 219/99 AI INDEX: AMR 19/29/99 22 November 1999
PUBLIC STATEMENT
BRAZIL
Amnesty International pays tribute to "Padre Chico"
Amnesty International today paid tribute to the life of Father Francisco Reardon, Coordinator of Brazil's Bishops' Council's Prison Ministry [pastoral Carceraria da CNBB], and tireless campaigner for prisoners' basic human rights. The US-born priest -- known in his adopted Brazil as "Padre Chico" -- died of a heart attack on 19 November 1999, aged 59. "Padre Chico's death is a shock and a great loss," said Javier Zuñiga, Director of Amnesty International's Americas Regional Program. "His energy, compassion and generosity of spirit have been an inspiration to us. Above all, we will remember his profound sense of human dignity."
Padre Chico, a key figure in Brazilian human rights, collaborated closely with Amnesty International in a current campaign highlighting the sub-human conditions in Brazil's prisons and police stations. He also campaigned for prisoners' rights worldwide, and had just returned from a conference in Mexico, where he had been elected vice-president of Latin-America's Catholic Church's Prison Ministry.
ENDS.../ Amnesty International, International Secretariat, 1 Easton Street, WC1X 8DJ, London, United Kingdom
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URGENT ACTION REQUESTS
-Letter campaign request from Indianist Missionary Council (Cimi)
Cimi is requesting that letters be sent to the officials below asking them to take immediate action to ensure that no more violence happen in the indigenous area of the Pataxo Ha-Ha-Hae (see story above):
- Minister of Justice: Exmo. Sr. Ministro Jose Carlos Dias
E-mail: acs@mj.gov.br>acs@mj.gov.br
- President of the National Congress: Exmo. Sr. Senador Antonio Carlos Magalhaes
E-mail: acm@senador.senado.gov.br
- Governador do Estado da Bahia: Exmo. Sr. Governador Cesar Augusto Rabello Borges
E-mail: segov.cmo@bahia.ba.gov.br
- Presidente da Fundacao Nacional do Indio: Ilmo. Sr. Presidente Carlos Frederico Mares
E-mail: webmaster@funai.gov.br
Suggested Message:
"Estamos acompanhando, bastante preocupados, o conflito deflagrado pela acao da Policia Militar do estado da Bahia, na terra indigena Caramuru-Catarina-Paraguassu, do povo Pataxo Ha-Ha-Hae, no municipio de Pau Brasil-BA. Somos sabedores que do mesmo ja resultaram duas mortes de policiais militares, alem de varios indios feridos e presos.
Como e do conhecimento de V. Sa., a Constituicao Federal do Estado Brasileiro, em seu art. 20, XI, determina que sao bens da Uniao as terras tradicionalmente ocupadas pelos, razao pela qual a Policia Militar nao possui competencia para atuar em áreas indigenas, sendo esta atribuicao privativa da Policia Federal (art. 144, § 1º, CF/1988).
Solicitamos, portanto, seja retirado imediatamente todo o contingente de policiais militares da terra indígena Pataxo Ha-Ha-Hae, como forma de evitar mais violencias."
(The letter is saying that we are concerned about the recent conflict which happened on indigenous land in Bahia which resulted in the death of two police officers, the wounding of several indigenous, and the subsequent arrest of various members of the Pataxo Ha-Ha-Hae people. As outlined by Brazilian law, the Military Police do not have the right to act on lands belonging to indigenous groups. We therefore ask that the all members of the Military Police be removed from the land of the Pataxo Ha-Ha-Hae as a way to avoid more violence.)
-Trial of Jose Rainha to begin--letter campaign requested
The second trial of José Rainha Júnior is scheduled for December 13, in the city of Vitória, capital of Espírito Santo state, (in the Primeira Vara Criminal, Salão do Júri, Fórum Muniz Freire). Judge Ronaldo Gonçalves de Souza will oversee the proceedings.
Evandro Lins e Silva, Luiz Eduardo Greenhalgh, Aton Fon Filho and Suzana Angélica Paim will defend Rainha. All the witnesses who appeared in the June 1997 trial are expected to testify again. Once again, Rainha’s defense team will be able to establish that José Rainha Júnior was in the state of Ceará and did not participate in the June 3, 1989 conflict in the city of Pedro Canário, Espirito Santo state.
The MST is requesting international observers and human rights organizations to attend the second trial in Brazil. The first trial, by all accounts, was a farse. Four of the jurors were friends of the landowner killed in the 1989 conflict. The powerful landowners’ lobby in Espírito Santo thus affected the outcome of that trial‹in which José Rainha was found guilty.
Please write to President Fernando Henrique Cardoso asking for a fair trial and for the end of repression of landless farm workers:
Presidente da República Fernando Henrique Cardoso Palácio do Planalto 70150-900 - Brasília - DF, Brasil
Fax 55 61 226 7566
E-mail: pr@planalto.gov.br
Source: Human Rights Department, Landless Workers Movement (MST)
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