Number 442, July 20, 2001.
Visit our home page: http://www.oneworld.org/sejup/
In this week's issue:
>NEWS BRIEFS
- Government announces rather weak measures to help with drought victims
- Federal police arrest "enemy" of the Pataxo Ha-Ha-Hae
>URGENT ACTION REQUEST
- Eldorado dos Carajas Trial
>HUMAN RIGHTS ISSUES
- Amnesty International reports on violence in Para
- World Conference on Racism and Racial Discrimination in Brazil
by Efu Nyaki
NEWS BRIEFS
- Government announces rather weak measures to help with drought victims
The Government announced last month that it would help the more than 600,000 drought victims who live in the semi-arid region of the Northeast. Minister of Agriculture Raul Jungmann admitted that the government’s efforts to help these people has weakened over the years. He announced that the government will begin to deliver basic foodstuffs, potable water, and US$7 per month per family. The cost to the government: US$9 million; how much money is actually needed: US$18 million. What makes the amount interesting is that the government is providing over US$350 million to U.S. agricultural giant Monsanto, which is planning to build a pesticide factory in Bahia. The new factory is only going to generate 319 jobs. Further, the factory is going to produce a pesticide which can only be used on genetically modified soy products, the latter of which are illegal in Brazil.
Source: Movimento Sem Terra
June
- Federal police arrest "enemy" of the Pataxo Ha-Ha-Hae
Farmer Marcos Vinícius Gaspar Guimarães (Marcão), known for threatening the Pataxó Hã-Hã-Hãe, was arrested this week by the Federal Police in Pau Brazil, south of the state of Bahia, under charges of carrying a gun without a licence.He was arrested on July 10 at the central office of the Rural Union of the city. The police acted at the request of the Federal Public Prosecution Service, which had heard from indigenous people that gunmen led by Marcão were circulating in the streets of the city. The police are looking for the gunmen, who fled the city when they heard about the police action. The Pataxó Hã-Hã-Hãe fear that the farmer may be released at any moment, but his arrest brought them relief, because it served as a warning about the criminality and insecurity prevailing in the municipality of Pau Brasil. Marcos Vinícius is facing several other charges for violent behavior.
Source: CIMI
July 12, 2001
URGENT ACTION REQUEST
- Eldorado dos Carajas Trial
(See past issues of News from Brazil on our website for more details about this story)
The trial set for June 18 has been suspended until an undetermined date, likely sometime in August. The judge, Eva Coelho de Amaral, president of the Popular Jury Tribunal who is supposed to judge the 149 Military Police involved in the massacre of Eldorado do Carajas, had withdrawn from the proceedings the report of the UNICAMP (Campinas University of Sao Paulo) investigators. That report, which is based on footage of the massacre, confirms that the military police shot first, while the Police investigators declare the opposite. Under pressure from civil society, the judge has had to back down and restore the investigators report into the proceedings, but she has ordered a counter-investigation to be carried out, which will take time. It is important to continue sending letters and faxes to Judge Eva.
Xinguara, 06/18/01
Pastoral Land Commission - Comissão Pastoral da Terra
Rio Maria Committee - Comitê Rio Maria
Suggested letter : (in Portuguese)
Exma Sra.
Dra. Eva coelho do Amaral
Presidência do Tribunal de Justiça do Pará - Fax 0xx91 - 218 2454 e 241 2970
Praça Felipe Petroni, s/n, Cidade Velha
Belém, Pará - PA
Senhora Juíza,
A senhora vai presidir o Tribunal do Júri, ainda sem data definida, que
julgará 20 oficiais e 130 policiais acusados de terem comandado e
participado do massacre de Eldorado dos Carajás, no qual foram assassinados,
em 17.04.96, 19 sem terras e feridas 64 pessoas.
É um acontecimento histórico. O mundo inteiro esta acompanhando, certo de
que, ao final, todos os responsáveis serão condenados e presos.
Confiamos que a Senhora presidirá esse julgamento de maneira que se
realize imparcialmente.
Atenciosamente,
(in English)
Esteemed Madam Dr. Eva Coelho do Amaral
President, Justice Tribunal of Para
Praça Felipe Petroni, s/n, Cidade Velha
Belém, Pará - PA
Dear Judge,
You will be presiding in the Jury Tribunal, still without a definite date, which will judge twenty officials and 130 police accused of having ordered and participated in the massacre of Eldorado do Carajas, in which nineteen landless people were killed and sixty-four wounded, on April 17 1996.
It is an historic event. The entire world is following it, certain that, in the end, all of those responsible will be condemned and imprisoned.
We trust that you will preside impartially in this trial.
Sincerely,
Fax to: 011 55 91 218 2454 or 011 55 91 241 2970 (if faxing from USA or Canada)
HUMAN RIGHTS ISSUES
- Amnesty International reports on violence in Para
* News Release Issued by the International Secretariat of Amnesty
International *
11 July 2001
AMR 19/021/2001
119/01
The killing of trade unionist José Pinheiro de Lima and his
family is just the last in a series of serious attacks in a
mounting wave of harassment against rural activists and landless
peasants in the south of Pará state, Amnesty International said
today.
José Pinheiro de Lima, his wife and 15-year old son were
killed by gunmen in their home in Morada Nova, Marabá, on 9 July
-- only five days after another peasant worker, Manoel Messias
Colono de Souza, had been shot dead on a farm occupied by
landless peasants also near Marabá.
"The authorities are not challenging the actions of
gunmen, nor are they granting protection to landless peasants and
rural activists, even in the face of repeated threats against
them," Amnesty International said.
Since April this year, at least 129 rural workers have
reportedly been arrested in Pará and an estimated 1,500 families
have been evicted from lands they were occupying. The situation
has deteriorated after landowners reportedly asked state
government authorities for support in dealing with land
occupations.
During one such eviction in the Fazenda Bannach, in the
municipality of Bannach, members of the military police squad who
took part in the operation reportedly removed their name tags,
making it impossible for them to be individually identified.
Amnesty International is alarmed to note that police
actions carried out under these circumstances in the past have
lead to the killings of large numbers of activists, such as those
of 19 landless peasants in El Dorado dos Carajás in 1996.
"Some progress recently made in court cases concerning
the killing of rural activists raised hopes that the
long-standing tolerance of such killings and the impunity
surrounding them would come to an end," Amnesty International
said, making reference to the conviction in June 2000 of a
landowner for the 1991 murder of trade unionist Expedito Ribeiro
de Souza in the south of Pará.
"However, the increasingly critical situation faced by
rural activists and landless peasants in southern Pará seems to
indicate that this is a case of one step forward and three steps
back," the organization continued.
Amnesty International is urging the Brazilian
authorities, and in particular those in Pará, to ensure that all
human rights violations against rural workers are thoroughly and
independently investigated and that those responsible are brought
to justice.
"The message from the authorities must be clear: the
killing and harassment of landless peasants and rural activists
will not be tolerated," the organization said. "The forthcoming
trial of the officers believed responsible for the El Dorado
massacre will be a test of the Brazilian authorities' commitment
to upholding the human rights of all Brazilians."
****************************************************************
You may repost this message onto other sources provided the main
text is not altered in any way and both the header crediting
Amnesty International and this footer remain intact. Only the
list subscription message may be removed.
****************************************************************
- World Conference on Racism and Racial Discrimination in Brazil
by Efu Nyaki
"Instead of Allowing diversity of race and culture to become a limiting factor in human exchange and development, we must refocus our understanding, discern in such diversity the potential for mutual enrichment, and realize that it is the interchange between great traditions of human spirituality that offers the best prospect for the persistence of the human spirit itself." (Vision Declaration: "Tolerance and Diversity A Vision for the 21st Century")
In 1998 the UN General Assembly decided to declare 2001 as a special year to fight against racism and racial discrimination. For this reason, many nations throughout the world are preparing for the "World Conference Against Racism, Racial discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance" that will take place in Durban, South Africa from August 31st to September 7th, 2001. This conference will give an opportunity for Brazil to objectively confront the gigantic problem of racism and racial discrimination, which exists and is in so prevalent in society. "Brazil is often described as a "racial democracy" because of the high number of interracial marriages and easy banter between the races in everyday life. Nothing could be farther from the truth," says Kathleen Bond in her article in the Magazine of Americas HEMISPHERE (volume 9 number 3 winter 2001). "Racial Democracy," a term coined by Brazilian sociologist Gilberto Freyre in the early twentieth century, is the theory that Brazil s history of extended miscegenation had resulted in a cultural mélange in which all races are equally valued. In reality however, race in Brazil is a complex and difficult issue. Although most of Brazilians claim a mixed African, European and Indigenous ancestry, the weight of racism causes many to "whiten" themselves. Many "morenos" straighten their hair and search for lighter-skinned marriage partners. They often identify themselves and each other with terms that indicate a lighter skin tone, such as: moreninho, café, mulatto, bronziado, chocolate, jambu, moreno claro, moreno escuro, etc. Rarely do they describe themselves as "negro" (black). Even those who call themselves black often have a hard time convincing other Brazilians not to identify them as "moreno" or "mulatto". For many people, to be black is still an insult.
Skin color profoundly influences life's chances. According to a 1992 study by Carlos Hasenbalg and Nelson do Valle Silva, non-white Brazilians are three times more likely than whites to be illiterate. The numbers deteriorate even further at higher educational level: whites are five times more likely than people of mixed ancestry and nine times more likely than blacks to obtain university degrees. The patterns repeats itself in the work force, where, according to the government statistics, whites have access to the highest-paying jobs, earning up to 75% more that blacks and 50% more that people of mixed ancestry. Other socio-economic indicators are no less grim. Infant mortality statistics are almost twice as high for non-white children, and the vast majority of detainees in the country s crowded prison system are non-whites. Not all of the consequences of racism can be neatly packed into statistics and charts. Effects on self-esteem are not so easily measured. At a recent reflection group of Afro-Brazilian women in João Pessoa, the capital of Paraíba, a woman named Cida painfully recounted the end of her relationship with Chico, a lighter-skinned black. The two had dated for several years without their color difference seeming to create any difficulties. When they got engaged however, Chico s family exploded; "This little blackie is going to pollute our blood. Go and find someone who will purify it," Chico s mother raged. Chico caved in and broke off the engagement within days. Two years latter, Cida painfully asked the group, "How can you tell me not to feel inferior because of my color?" There are many examples and stories like Cida s. We could go on and on to show just how complex the question of racism is in Brazil.
There are many groups and movements trying to work in raising awareness and reclaiming identities throughout Brazil, but the main objective of bringing a higher awareness to the whole Brazilian society that racism and racial discrimination is a "justice issue" has still not been achieved. It s my hope that during this time of preparation and following the conference, Brazil will have various opportunities to face and combat the realities of racism and racial discrimination which are still so prevalent yet today.
The Brazilian government created a national committee, which is run by the National Secretary of Human Rights, with fourteen people representing the government and fourteen representing the civil associations. Apart from the preparations of various meetings throughout the country, the committee represented Brazil in the pre- conference that took place in Santiago, Chile with 1500 participants, the majority being Brazilians. In the civil society, the majority of the participants are from Black movements, especially black women’s organizations, who are articulating more and more as NGOs. "The truth is we don’t feel well represented by the civil society members, as we know that they were elected by the government. We are still looking for an opportunity to discuss with the government members and the civil society members the common agenda," says Jurema Weneck, the Coordinator of "Crioula," a women s organization in Rio de Janeiro. She is very critical of the Brazilian government's progressive rhetoric, which is still very far away from understanding the reality of racism and its results on the black and indigenous peoples. "This is an important time to reflect about the racial situation and the diversity in Brazil," says the São Paulo Regional secretary of Human rights, Gilberto Sabóia. He believes that the work of bringing awareness that has begun here in Brazil will not depend on what will be decided in South Africa. Before August, the committee that is working on the preparation of the conference should give the report of the work done to the Brazilian president. This report should show the concerns of the political issues based upon improving education, health, work and culture that will guarantee equality and opportunities for all.
Efu Nyaki is a Maryknoll sister who works with the Black Movement in Joao Pessoa, Paraiba
The reproduction of this material is permitted as long as the source is
cited.
The reproduction of this material is permitted as long as the source is cited. If you wish to contact us, send a message to braziljusticenet@braziljusticenet.org. If you wish to be removed from our email list, go to http://braziljusticenet.org/subscribe.htm, type in your email address, and click "unsubscribe" button.