Number 409, July 21, 2000.
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In this week's issue:
>NEWS BRIEFS
- President Cardoso pardons Mozambican debt
- Study shows Sao Paulo police shoot 51% of victims in the back
- Oil spill biggest since 1975
>INDIGENOUS ISSUES
- Provisional Measure for genetic resources is another affront to indigenous rights
>URGENT ACTION
- Convicted assassins still at large
- Police Evictions of Landless Workers
NEWS BRIEFS
- President Cardoso pardons Mozambican debt
During the 3rd Summit of Portuguese-speaking Nations, President Fernando Henrique Cardoso announced that he will authorize the reduction of 95% of the debt that Mozambique has to Brazil. This will result in a US$450 million dollar internal debt in Brazil. In a speech to the participants of the Summit, the President also gave his support to political dissidents in Angola, challenged the Portuguese-speaking nations to counter the effects of globalization, expressed his desire to establish priorities for common development, and announced his intention to release funds for technology and training for those involved with AIDS. The debt reduction will require the approval of Congress. Already in Congress there is a proposal to pardon the debts of countries which have GDP per capita equal or less than Brazil. Angola and Mozambique are the two countries in this group which owe Brazil the most money.
Source: Folha de Sao Paulo and Inesc
July 18 and June 30
- Study shows Sao Paulo police shoot 51% of victims in the back
According to a recent study, 51% of those killed by the Sao Paulo police were shot in the back. One third were shot in the head. The majority were shot at night, usually without any eye witnesses. And often, there is no proof that the victims committed crime. The study was conducted by the state government and analyzed cases from last year, a year in which the Sao Paulo police killed 224 persons. The Minister of Justice, Jose Gregori, announced plans to call a special meeting with police councils to further investigate the findings of the study. Governor of Sao Paulo Mario Covas expressed his dissatisfaction with police performance: "Even if there were confrontations and the alleged bandits shot first, it is unreasonable that so many were shot in the back."
Source: Folha de Sao Paulo
July 17, 2000
- Oil spill biggest since 1975
Nearly 4 million liters of crude oil spilled out into the Barigui and Iguacu rivers in the state of the Parana on Sunday of this week. The spill, the biggest since 1975, was three times the size of the spill which happened earlier this year in Rio de Janeiro. The spill is 30 km long and may affect the water supply for 73,000 persons. Environmentalists are saying that there will never be a complete recuperation of the area. The accident was caused when a valve failed to open and a worker did not shut down the system. Petrobras, the company responsible, will be fined US$85 million.
Source: Folha de Sao Paulo
July 17-19, 2000
INDIGENOUS ISSUES
- Provisional Measure for genetic resources is another affront to indigenous rights
Despite the protests of many civil society organizations, Provisional Measure n. 2,052, which regulates the access to genetic resources, was published in the Official Gazette on June 30. According to the newspaper Folha de São Paulo, the justification provided by the Brazilian government for the Provisional Measure is that it is intended to "put an end to a legal gap in agreements for genetic research activities for the development of patents for products based on Brazilian bacteria, fungi, plants, and animals." In other words, the government intends to pave the way for shameful agreements such as the one between Novartis, a Swiss drug manufacturer, and Bioamazônia, which only because of the strong reactions and charges it gave rise to was not signed after all.
The Brazilian Forum of Non-Governmental Organizations and Social Movements for Environment and Development sent a letter to the office of the president of the Republic condemning the initiative to regulate the access to genetic resources through a provisional measure. The organizations say that the Brazilian government disregarded discussions that took place over eight years ago between the National Congress and interested sectors about the issue. "Regulating an economically and environmentally strategic activity for Brazil through a Provisional Measure will give rise to legal insecurity for negotiations under way for using Brazilian genetic resources," the letter says. Very anti-democratically, article 11 of the Provisional Measure creates an interministerial council with powers to control, regulate, and approve the access to genetic resources.
The provisional measure reveals the complete disregard of the federal administration for three bills on the matter being reviewed by Congress, one of which was proposed by the government itself and another one by senator Marina Silva (Workers’ Party – state of Acre), which has been approved by the Senate and must now be reviewed by a special committee of the Chamber of Representatives to be passed. The provisional measure will have a negative impact on the review of the bills by the National Congress.
Regarding the use of the traditional knowledge of indigenous nations, Provisional Measure n. 2,052 defies a constitutional right of indigenous people provided for in article 231. Among other things, the text of the provisional measure ignores the right of indigenous nations to "exclusive use" of natural resources and transfers the power to authorize research activities on their traditional knowledge, a heritage of humankind, from indigenous communities to the federal administration.
Provisional measures have been the means most often used by president Fernando Henrique Cardoso during his six years in office. Because they can only remain effective for 30 days, they quickly become bargaining tools. "Their original contents can change according to political pressures applied on the Executive Branch, as was the case with Provisional Measure n. 1,956, which amended the Forest Code," member organizations of the Environmental Forum report.
Source: Indianist Missionary Council - Cimi
July 6, 2000
URGENT ACTION
- Convicted assassins still at large
from Rio Maria Bulletin
The trial and conviction last month of Jerônimo Alves de Amorim was a great victory. It was because of your solidarity and consistent effort in applying pressure to the Brazilian authorities that this rancher who had ordered the assassination of Expedito Ribeiro de Souza was finally arrested, tried, convicted, and sentenced to prison. We are extremely grateful for your support.
At the same time, we need to ask what the point is of convicting assassins if they later escape from prison. Edson Matos, the former Military Police sargeant who assassinated José and Paulo Canuto, fled from the Military Police headquarters in Belém in 1992. José Ubiratan Ubirajara, another assassin of the Canuto brothers, broke out of a penitentiary in 1994. Wanderley Borges de Mendonça, one of Jerônimo Alves de Amorim s ranch managers, already convicted of the assassination of a judge in Goiás and charged with two more murders in Xinguara, escaped from jail in that town in 1996, and in a police car! José Serafim Sales, sentenced to twenty-five years for killing Expedito Ribeiro de Souza, escaped this past March from the prison in Marabá with the complicity of the guards.
These escapes from jails and prisons in Pará reveal the collusion of public authorities with powerful landowners and politicians, who support the concentration of land and violence with impunity as the means of resolving social conflicts. These criminals who are still at large and who, according to police statements, are extremely dangerous, create a serious problem for the safety of the families of their victims and for all the people who are working for justice. The most recent target of death threats is Father Henri des Roziers, a lawyer for the Pastoral Land Commission and for the Rio Maria Committee.
The most urgent matter right now is the capture of the escaped assassins. For this reason we are asking you, once again, to send letters to the president of Brazil and to the federal minister of justice. You may use the enclosed sample letters. If you wish to send them by fax, the number for the president is 011-55-61-411-2222, and for the justice minister 011-55-61-322-6817. If you photocopy the letters, please don’t t forget to print your address and the date at the top and your name below your signature.
Please send copies of your letters to the secretary of the committee:
Britta Fischer 15 Pleasant View Avenue Lynn, MA 01902
Exmo Sr. Fernando Henrique Cardoso Presidente da República Praça dos Três Poderes Palácio do Planalto 70.233-090 Brasília, DF, Brasil
Mr. President:
During the 1980s and 1990s hundreds of rural workers in the state of Pará were assassinated on the orders of large ranchers. Only recently, for the first time in that region, a rancher who ordered an assassination was convicted and sentenced. Everyone who has been working in solidarity with church people and unionists in the southeast Amazon region is very grateful for the efforts of the federal government in this case.
However, we remain concerned about the escaped assassins who are still at large. Edson Matos, who murdered José and Paulo Canuto in Rio Maria in 1990, fled from the Military Police Headquarters in Belém in 1992. José Ubiratan Ubirajará, another assassin of the Canuto brothers, sentenced to fifty years of prison, broke out of the penitentiary in Belém in 1994, only six months after his trial. Wanderley Borges de Mendonça, already convicted of the assassination of a judge in Goiás and charged with having arranged the murders of two other people in Xinguara, escaped from the jail in that city in 1996, and in a police car! José Serafim Sales, the assassin of Expedito Ribeiro de Souza who in 1995 was given a sentence of twenty-five years, fled from prison in Marabá in March of this year, with the complicity of the guards. None of these men has been recaptured.
Mr. President, I am very concerned about the safety of the relatives of victims and of people who are working to put and end to violence and impunity in the region, especially Father Henri des Roziers, lawyer for the Pastoral Land Commission and for the Rio Maria Committee, who has recently received death threats. It is essential that these assassins be captured and that they remain in prison. And please make sure that Jerônimo Alves de Amorim does not escape as well!
Proper attention to these cases will be likely to restore the confidence of the Brazilian people in the justice system.
Respectfully,
Exmo. Sr. Dr. José Gregori Ministro da Justiça Esplanada dos Ministérios 4º andar - Bloco T 70.233-090 - Brasília, DF, Brasil
Dear Dr. Gregori:
During the 1980s and 1990s hundreds of rural workers in the state of Pará were assassinated on the orders of large ranchers. Only recently, for the first time in that region, a rancher who ordered an assassination was convicted and sentenced. Everyone who has been working in solidarity with church people and unionists in the southeast Amazon region is very grateful for the efforts of the federal government in this case.
However, we remain concerned about the escaped assassins who are still at large. Edson Matos, who murdered José and Paulo Canuto in Rio Maria in 1990, fled from the Military Police Headquarters in Belém in 1992. José Ubiratan Ubirajará, another assassin of the Canuto brothers, sentenced to fifty years of prison, broke out of the penitentiary in Belém in 1994, only six months after his trial. Wanderley Borges de Mendonça, already convicted of the assassination of a judge in Goiás and charged with having arranged the murders of two other people in Xinguara, escaped from the jail in that city in 1996, and in a police car! José Serafim Sales, the assassin of Expedito Ribeiro de Souza who in 1995 was given a sentence of twenty-five years, fled from prison in Marabá in March of this year, with the complicity of the guards. None of these men has been recaptured.
Dr. Gregori, I am very concerned about the safety of the relatives of victims and of people who are working to put and end to violence and impunity in the region, especially Father Henri des Roziers, lawyer for the Pastoral Land Commission and for the Rio Maria Committee, who has recently received death threats. It is essential that these assassins be captured and that they remain in prison. And please make sure that Jerônimo Alves de Amorim does not escape as well!
Proper attention to these cases will be likely to restore the confidence of the Brazilian people in the justice system.
Respectfully,
- Police Evictions of Landless Workers
from the Pastoral Land Commission of Paraná , Paraná State, July 17, 2000
(Comissão Pastoral da Terra do Paraná, CPT) , Curitiba, Paraná State, Brazil
On the morning of July 17, 2000, during one of the coldest days of the year in Paraná state, approximately one thousand police prepared a mega-operation to remove rural landless workers from at least two "fazendas" or large rural estates where they have been living.
In the past twenty-four hours, police forcibly evicted landless from two estates: the Estate Santa Maria, in the municipality of Jaguapitã, in the northeastern region of the state, where eighty families are living; and at the Jacutinga estate, in the Porecatu municipality, where 100 families are currently isolated in an area that the police have cordoned off. As in previous cases of forced evictions, Paraná police denied access to the estates, this time, prohibiting entrance by agents from the Pastoral Land Commission, community leaders, and the press. At the Santa Maria estate, the police allowed access to only one person--Rev. Albano Cavallin, the bishop of Londrina, Paraná state. As of 4:00 p.m. on July 17, 2000, police had blocked all access to the Jacutinga estate, where there are reports of injured persons.
Both estates have been in the process of negotiation of disputed land title. The National Agrarian Reform Institute (Instituto Nacional de Colonização e Reforma Agrária, INCRA) issued a decree of non-productivity for the Estate Santa Maria, an important step in the expropriation process. Landowners dispute this decree. For the past two months, the Council for the Defense of the Rights of the Person (Conselho de Defesa dos Direitos da Pessoa Humana, CDDPH), a federal body tied to the Ministry of Justice, has been discussing the wave of official violence against landless workers in Paraná state, but hasn't taken any actions to prevent it. These evictions reflect the continued lack of goodwill on the part of Paraná state authorities who prioritize violent measures to resolve land disputes.
Including these forced evictions, the police have violently forced laborers off lands on twenty-four occasions during the first six months of 2000 in Paraná state alone. Since the beginning of the year, police evictions of landless workers have resulted in 141 arrests, 232 injuries, two death threats, and one killing.
Please send a letter to President Fernando Henrique Cardoso, asking him to prevent violence against landless workers in Paraná. Please write to:
Fernando Henrique Cardoso
Presidente da República
Palácio do Planalto
70150-900
Brasilia-DF, Brazil
pr@planalto.com.br
Thank you very much for your support!
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