Number 422, October 19, 2000
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In this week's issue:
>NEWS BRIEFS
- Study shows minimum wage still not enough
- 48% of Brazilian teachers do not have university degrees
- Transfer of Prisoners Ends Rebellion in Parana
- Rio begins its campaign, Christmas without Hunger
- OAB and CNNB leave mediation role between the government and the MST
- Organizations demand justice for case involving murder attempt of Workers’ Party president
>INDIGENOUS ISSUES
- CIMI reports situation of indigenous peoples at the OAS
NEWS BRIEFS
- Study shows minimum wage still not enough
Although President Henrique Cardoso raised the minimum wage early this year, a study shows that the current wage is still well below a decent wage. According to the Dieese’s National Study of Basic Necessities, a worker would need to earn US$530 in the month of September to be able to buy the necessities for his/her family in regard to food, education, health, transportation, hygiene, recreation, and welfare. This figure is six times greater than the current minimum wage salary of US$80.
Source: Correio da Cidadania
October 7-14, 2000
- 48% of Brazilian teachers do not have university degrees
The National Institute for Studies and Educational Research released a report that shows that 48% of Brazilian teachers do not have diplomas from institutions of higher education. The majority of these teachers without diplomas are from the North and Northeast of the country and teach at the elementary school level. However, there was a 5% increase in the number of teachers with diplomas since the last study in 1996. Currently, there is a law that all teachers must have a degree by the year 2007. No provisions in terms of monetary aid for the teachers have been made thus far to help those teachers earn their degrees.
Source: Folha de Sao Paulo
October 12, 2000
- Transfer of Prisoners Ends Rebellion in Parana
A rebellion in the PCE (Central State Penitentiary) in Piraquara ended last week with the Parana government attending to the demands of the 16 prisoners who lead the revolt. The PCE
is the largest prison in Parana and holds 1,430 prisoners. After giving up on their initial demands, the prisoners negotiated a transfer to other states. The seven penitentiary agents held as hostages were released. The rebellion, which stated on Sunday of last week and ended four days latter, lasted almost 88 hours and was the third longest in the penitentiary history in Parana. According to the internal secretary of Justice of Parana, Carlos Maranhao, the strategy of "negotiating always" avoided deaths.
Source: Folha de Sao Paulo
October 13, 2000
- Rio begins its campaign, Christmas without Hunger
A table one kilometer long filled with fruits and breads marked the opening of this year’s Christmas without Hunger in Rio de Janeiro. The campaign, now organized by Citizen’s Action against Hunger, was begun by Herbert "Betinho" de Souza (who died in 1997) eight years ago. This year’s objective is to collect donations sufficient for 100,000 food baskets (the equivalent of 1,000 tons of food) 20,000 more than last year. Mauricio Andrade, the coordinator of the campaign raised this year’s goal due to the increase of poverty and misery this year: "In 1993, when Citizen’s Action was created, there were 32 million people living below the poverty line. In the latest research, this number has almost doubled," commented Andrade.
Source: Folha de Sao Paulo
October 16, 2000
- OAB and CNNB leave mediation role between the government and the MST
This week, the OAB (Order of Lawyers of Brazil) and the CNNB (National Conference of Catholic Bishops) announced that they were no long going to act as mediators between the government and the MST (Movement of rural workers Without Land). The MST had agreed to leave government buildings that they had been occupying as a protest to the government’s land policies. After weeks of negotiations, the mediators reached an impasse. "We have already met with the President. To whom else can we appeal?," commented dom Raymundo Damasceno, the Secretary General of the CNBB. The MST has not yet announced what will be its next step.
Source: Folha de Sao Paulo
October 18, 2000
- Organizations demand justice for case involving murder attempt of Workers’ Party president
Various organizations and social movements are appealing to Minister of Justice, Jose Gregori, for his intervention in the case of a murder attempt of Sivaldo Dias Campos, the president of the Workers Party in the state of Mato Grosso. Sivaldo had been heading an investigation into accusations of candidates buying votes in this month’s elections. He had already had proof against several candidates when three men invaded his house on the morning of the 10th of October, and shot him in the neck and head. Sivaldo remains in critical condition. The organizations are asking for immediate investigation and punishment of those involved in the crime.
Source: Linha Aberta
October 18, 2000
INDIGENOUS ISSUES
- CIMI reports situation of indigenous peoples at the OAS
The Interamerican Human Rights Committee of the Organization of American States (OAS), in Washington, United States, will hold a special briefing session on October 12 on the situation of indigenous peoples in Brazil. The audience was proposed by Cimi and by the Center for Justice and Human Rights (Cejil) in August of this year. The vice-chairman of Cimi, Saulo Feitosa, will have one hour to report the violation of fundamental human and territorial rights of indigenous peoples in Brazil as a result of the action or inaction of governmental authorities in Brazil. Cimi will defy official information according to which records have been registered in the demarcation of indigenous lands in Brazil and will show that budget cuts have made it impossible for Funai to fulfil its mission and that Brazil’s federal administration has transferred the responsibility for demarcating indigenous lands to G-7 countries.
Cimi will stress the abuse of power of Military, Civil and Federal police officers against indigenous peoples and communities. The OAS will be briefed about cases involving repressive actions of the police in demonstrations staged at the Indigenous Conference held in the state of Bahia on April 22, two invasions of the Truká indigenous area in January and August of this year, and one invasion of the Pataxó Hã-Hã-Hãe area in the south tip of the state of Bahia in November 1999, as a result of which two military police officers died and chief Gérson Melo was arrested. The Tupinikim and Guarani also suffered acts of violence in March 1997, when federal police officers surrounded and besieged their area in order to prevent them from demarcating it themselves. The incident had international repercussions because of the attempt to expel Dutch missionary Winfridus Overbeek from Brazil.
In all these situations, indigenous people were fighting to have the bounds of their territories officially ratified. Cimi data confirm that demarcation procedures for 68% of Brazil’s 741 indigenous areas have not been completed. The Fernando Henrique Cardoso administration boasts that 60% of all indigenous lands have been demarcated, but the figure includes areas covered by administrative rulings and decrees, which constitute administrative procedures that are not sufficient to ensure the actual ratification of the bounds of indigenous territories. For that to happen, Funai has to register the lands with a Real Estate Title Registry or with the Union’s Assets Department. In addition, conflicts will not be over until Funai removes all invaders from these areas. Demarcation procedures have been completed for only 32% of all indigenous areas and invaders have not been removed from all of them.
The most common conflicts are between indigenous people and squatters. In 1997, Cimi prepared a list of 109 conflicts involving indigenous people and squatters at the request of the National Land Reform Institute (Incra), but so far no measures have been taken in relation to them. "In reality, squatters are landless people expelled from other areas by large landowners who ended up settling in indigenous areas. These conflicts can be solved easily, but the government has shown no interest in eliminating them," says Cimi’ s vice-chairman, Saulo Feitosa.
Land demarcation procedures have not advanced because the Integrated Program for the Protection of Indigenous Lands in the Legal Amazon Region (PPTAL) has funded many demarcations, while Funai’s funds have been sistematically reduced. In the 1995-1999 period, the budget of the agency dropped from 52 million 171 thousand reais to 37 million 172 thousand reais. Because it is a program restricted to the Amazon region, the PPTAL does not fund demarcation procedures outside that region. It is a clear situation of prejudice, but is also a scheme that shows how the Brazilian government has been transferring its responsibilities to international governments. "Unfortunately, the Brazilian government has lost its track. Although other participant States have shown good will, the Brazilian State has been shirking its responsibilities," Feitosa stresses.
Source: Cimi
October 11, 2000
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