Number 415, September 1, 2000.
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In this week's issue:
>NEWS BRIEFS
- Update on Corumbiara massacre trial
- Number of women murdered increases in Sao Paulo
- Child labor continues even in rich metropolitan centers
- UN investigator dismayed at Sao Paulo prison conditions
>INDIGENOUS ISSUES
- Federal Police launch drug trafficking operation on indigenous lands
NEWS BRIEFS
- Update on Corumbiara massacre trial
The trial of the massacre at Corumbiara continued this week (see News from Brazil, No. 414 for more details) with a guilty verdict for two landless workers accused of killing two police officers. Cicero Pereiro Leite Neto, 42, and Claudemir Gilberto Ramos, 27, were given 8 and 6 year sentences, respectively. During the trial, the two men claimed that they are not leaders of the group as leadership is shared in this particular land movement (Workers Movement of Corumbiara). Therefore, they cannot be held responsible as the leaders. They further claimed that they were not armed during the conflict. They said that there were some hired guns of the local rancher mixed in with the group during the conflict, and that the two policemen could have been shot by these.
Three days later, one more police officer was absolved of responsibility in the death of the landless workers. Public prosecutors Claudio Wolff Harger and Rudson Coutinho da Silva said there was no proof that Sargent Claudenilson Alves, 35, participated in the shootings and death of the landless workers and therefore asked the jury to dismiss him. They did so in a 7 to 0 vote. The trial will continue next week with accusations against five more police officers.
Source: Folha de Sao Paulo
August 26, 27 & 30, 2000
- Number of women murdered increases in Sao Paulo
The number of women who are murdered in Sao Paulo increased by 13.5% from 1998 to 1999. There were 429 women murdered this past year. Homicide is now listed as the tenth major cause of death among women. In 1992, it was the 18th. "Crimes of passion" is the number one motive for women’s deaths. Most of the women murdered are between 20 - 29 years old, have a primary school education, and work as domestics, housewives, or hairstylists. "They are poor women who live in regions where conflicts are resolved through violence," said Marcos Drummond, a doctor who works in the city’s morgue. Eva Blay, a sociologist for the University of Sao Paulo commented that unemployment and machismo are key factors: "Unemployment affects more men, and they can’t stand to be supported by women. This loss of identity ends in violence. We live in a country where no one wants to get involved in a fight between a man and a woman. Not even the police. And this has got to change."
Source: Folha de Sao Paulo
August 27, 2000
- Child labor continues even in rich metropolitan centers
In Brazil, it is not only in poor rural areas where there is child labor. A study done by the Getulio Vargas Foundation (FGV) reveals that the six richest cities of Brazil do not have the lowest child labor rates. Belo Horizonte has the highest rate among the six at 4.3%, followed by Sao Paulo at 4.1%. The national average is 3.5%. The study also debunks the myth that periods of economic growth reduce child labor. If one looks at the child labor graph over the last 20 years, the highest levels of child labor were during the best moments of the economy. This is because "when the labor market is good, it is also good for children," explained Marcelo Neri, the chief officer at FGV. "The solution is for the government to offer scholarships or some compensation for families to motive families to keep their children in schools."
Source: Folha de Sao Paulo
August 28, 2000
- UN investigator dismayed at Sao Paulo prison conditions
A special investigator for the United Nations, Nigel Rodley, finished up his visits to Sao Paulo prisons this week. He visited several Febems (juvenile detention centers) and prisons, including the infamous Carandiru prison where there was a massacre of the prisoners in 1991. Rodley said that he heard from several people about cases of torture in the prisons. "Many [of these cases] must be true," commented Rodley. "The prisoners know they need to pay for their crimes. But what is revolting to them is to live in subhuman conditions. Respect for human rights is not a luxury. [It is a basis for the construction of] a secure and dignified society." He went on to say that it is important that society not believe that the way to solve violence is to brutally deal with those who have transgressed the law. His report will be translated into six different languages and will be delivered to all member-nations of the United Nations. A major hope for human rights groups here is that the report mandate change in the way the system handles its investigations into cases of torture. As the system works now, impunity reigns.
Source: Folha de Sao Paulo
August 29, 2000
INDIGENOUS ISSUES
- Federal Police launch drug trafficking operation on indigenous lands
The Federal Police launched operations in the Truká indigenous area, state of Pernambuco. This time, the justification is that they want to destroy marijuana plantations established by drug dealers in the Assunçăo island. They went there with members of the Parliamentary Inquiry Commission (CPI) of the State Legislature of Pernambuco, which is investigating the drug traffic in the country and was established on Wednesday, the 23rd, in the city of Cabrobó. The Assunçăo archipelago, an indigenous territory of the Truká, is located inside the so-called Marijuana Polygon, which is constantly encroached upon by drug dealers. The operation includes two helicopters, one bus full of agents, and three supporting cars.
For the Truká, however, the police operation represents another invasion of the indigenous territory. On Saturday, the 19th, a group of almost 60 police officers in 11 cars and a helicopter arrived at the Truká territory with violence carrying a search warrant to seize weapons and drugs and went straight to the home of leader Ailson dos Santos, where they searched everything and arrested him under the allegation that he was carrying a gun without a license. Santos did not react and left his home handcuffed. Next, the federal agents spread out to search the island.
Eight indigenous people were arrested in the operation, four of whom were released on bail. The four who were arrested are in the Salgueiro penitentiary under charges of conspiracy and assault with the intent to commit murder. One of the Truká who were arrested questioned whether the action was legal and was beaten by the police.
The community reacted and threw stones and typical indigenous clubs at the police officers. The agents, in turn, used tear gas and rubber bullets against the indigenous people. All of the indigenous people who were arrested were violently beaten and were subjected to two corpus delicti examinations to confirm the violence at the request of the indigenous community, which defied the results of the first examination carried out by the Federal Police.
The Truká who were on the island during the police operation were heard by Funai, which is gathering evidence for the public prosecution service to press charges against the federal police for abuse of authority. Pregnant women who felt sick during the action confirmed the violence. They said that tear-gas bombs were thrown inside homes to force those inside it to come out. As a result of the police action, some women were hospitalized in order not to miscarry their babies. Elderly people also suffered with the action. "They looked more like terrorists than the Federal Police," said Aurivan dos Santos, a Truká leader. The climate in Cabrobó is tense and the animosity between the Federal Police and the indigenous people is very strong, which can lead to a serious conflict.
The Police Action and the Struggle for Land
The indigenous people have no doubts that the police action is related to the struggle for the land. The indigenous area in question is located in the Assunçăo Archipelago, in the so-called marijuana Polygon. Drug dealers take advantage of the lack of measures on the part of the federal administration to legalize the possession of the area and hide from the police in the island, where they plant marijuana. In their struggle to have their land demarcated, the indigenous people decided to drive invaders, including drug dealers, out on their own initiative.
The federal administration, however, has not released funds for indemnifying occupants in good faith for improvements made in the land. The Truká have gone to Brasília repeatedly to press the government to release these funds and have even thrown down electricity transmission towers of Companhia Hidrelétrica do Săo Francisco (Chesf) in the archipelago. In May, the last time the indigenous people were in Brasília, the Ministry of Justice announced that no money was available to make that payment (R$ 2,900,000), although it was promised last year.
Source: Cimi
August 24, 2000
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