Number 443, July 27, 2001.
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In this week's issue:
>NEWS BRIEFS
- Thirteen sentenced in the massacre of Tikuna indigenous
- Goat project keeps children healthy and in school
- New AIDS vaccine to be tested in Brazil
- Genetically modified soy to be legalized
- Landless march throughout country on Day of the Rural Worker
>INDIGENOUS ISSUES
- IBAMA appoints "manager" for Mount Pascoal
>HUMAN RIGHTS ISSUES
- A Just Conviction for the Carandiru Prison Massacre
by Heidi Cerneka
>URGENT ACTION APPEAL
from the Movement of Landless Workers (MST) of Pará - Amazônia -Brasi www.mstpa.org.br--Campaign for the freeing of Political Prisoners
NEWS BRIEFS
- Thirteen sentenced in the massacre of Tikuna indigenous
Thirteen of fourteen defendants were found guilty of the massacre of 14 members of the Tikuna indigenous group. The massacre happened on March 27, 1988 when the Tikunas were assembled for a meeting on their lands on the banks of the Solimoes River, near the Peruvian and Colombian border. The meeting was interrupted by hired gunmen who opened fire on the group, attempting to scare the Tikunas off their land. The Tikunas are one of the most numerous of indigenous groups, and are very well organized, a fact which has enabled them to advance in the area of rights to land, education and health. The gunmen were given 20-25 year sentences.
Source: Poratim
June/July issue
- Goat project keeps children healthy and in school
A unique project begun in the state of Minas Gerais is keeping children healthy and in school. The project, called Cabra-Escola (Goat-School) issues a female goat to needy families. The families use the goat’s milk (which has more nutrients than cow’s milk) to supplement their children’s diet. The milk is also sold at the market, the profits of which go to the local school to buy school materials. When the goat is bred, the female offspring is given back to the project while the family can either keep or sell the male offspring. The family can only participate in the project if they keep their children in school, and they must participate in sessions which train them how to care for the goats.
Source: Jornal da Cidadania
June issue
- New AIDS vaccine to be tested in Brazil
The Brazilian and French governments have just signed an accord which will allow for the experimentation of a new AIDS vaccine developed in France. Brazilian volunteers will begin receiving the drug next year. The agreement not only supplies the drugs, but also will include money for research. If the drug proves to be effective, Brazil will have the right to produce the drugs. "This accord will be very good for Brazil," said Minister of Health, Jose Serra. We have been able to detain the spread of AIDS, and now we need to reduce [the number of victims], something no country has been able to do." The cost of the program will be US$1.4 million, with Brazil paying US$400 thousand and France paying the rest.
Source: Folha de Sao Paulo
July 20, 2001
- Genetically modified soy to be legalized
The Minister of Agriculture, Pratini de Moraes, announced this week that the government will lift its ban on the production and selling of genetically modified soy seeds. The announcement comes on the heels of a new piece of legislation that all products which have at least 4% of their weight composed of genetically modified material must be labeled as such. Opposition groups are saying that the weight does not matter--either a product has genetically modified material or it doesn’t. "The law disrespects the consumers right to know whether or not the product has genetically modified material," comment president of Idec (a consumer advocate group), Marilena Lazzarini. Opposition groups plan to obtain court orders against the decisions.
Source: Folha de Sao Paulo
July 20 & 25, 2001
- Landless march throughout country on Day of the Rural Worker
The Day of the Rural Worker, July 25, was observed throughout Brazil this week with marches and occupations all over the country. The majority of the action was in the Northeast of the country. In the state of Paraiba, 2,000 people attempted to occupy the governor’s palace--three marchers and three police were wounded in a confrontation. In Pernambuco, 8,000 participated in roadblocks and land occupations throughout the state. Protestors are trying to pressure the government for effective land reform.
Source: Folha de Sao Paulo
July 26, 2001
INDIGENOUS ISSUES
- IBAMA appoints "manager" for Mount Pascoal
The Brazilian Institute for the Environment and Renewable Natural Resources (Ibama) appointed Milene Maia Oberlaender "Conservation Unit Manager" for the "National Mount Pascoal Park." Since 1999, when the Pataxó reoccupied Mount Pascoal and demanded its demarcation as an indigenous area and the revocation of the decree that created the Park, Ibama tried to intervene on several occasions to expel the indigenous people from their territory. Cimi and the National Indigenous Action Association (Anai) reject the action of the federal agency and report that the nomination of the "manager" is another maneuver against the rights of the Pataxó to their traditional area.
In a public note, Anai says that the decree that created the Pascoal Mount National Park in 1961 is unconstitutional, because the park was implemented inside the traditional territory of the Pataxó. The indigenous people were expelled from the region for the Conservation Unit to be created. For two years they have been trying to reoccupy an area that belongs to them. In compliance with a legal determination issued by the Federal Public Prosecution Service, Funai set up a Technical Working Group (GT) to review the bounds of the indigenous area on the Pascoal Mount for the purpose of recovering the area subtracted by the Park. The GT completed its activities and the indigenous people are now waiting for the report to be published by Funai.
When they reoccupied the Mount, the Pataxó expelled the Ibama managers from it and began to manage the park themselves and attend to tourists. Displeased with the situation, Ibama filed a suit for repossession of the reoccupied area but at the same time tried to persuade the indigenous people to accept a "shared management" arrangement (indigenous people and Ibama) for Mount Pascoal. The indigenous people say they will not budge on their decision to defend their right to the land and are now waiting for its demarcation.
The presence of the "manager" has been causing conflicts with indigenous leaders. After she was assigned to that position, news got about that the indigenous people were deforesting the area. The Pataxó say that the accusations are part of a slanderous campaign aimed at turning the public opinion against them and turn them into villains who destroy nature.
In Cimi's opinion, Ibama should not allowed to continue to try to entice, divide, and pressure indigenous people with the aim of regaining control over Mount Pascoal in flagrant disrespect for their constitutional rights. "The overlapping of conservation units on indigenous lands and the controversy created by the federal environmental agency are irresponsible acts, since the original rights of indigenous peoples to that territory have precedence over any decree to create a conservation unit. Nobody is more aware that the Atlantic forest should be conserved and preserved than the indigenous people themselves," said the executive secrtetary of Cimi, Egon Heck.
Source: Cimi
July 12, 2001
HUMAN RIGHTS ISSUES
- A Just Conviction for the Carandiru Prison Massacre
by Heidi Cerneka
On October 2nd, 1992, a prisoner rebellion was brutally repressed by the invasion of troops from the Military police of São Paulo, resulting in the biggest massacre in the history of Brazilian penitentiaries. Coronel Ubiritan Guimarães, then commander of the Metropolitan area police, invaded Pavilion 9 of the Detention House, Carandiru, beginning an operation that resulted in the death of 111 prisoners.
On the morning of October 2nd, a routine soccer game was in play. During the game, a misunderstanding occurred between two prisoners fueled by a simple dispute for clothesline space on the second floor of Pavilion 9. At 1:50PM, the guards attempted, with no success, to stop the fight which had escalated into a fight between two factions. At no time was there ever a possibility of escape, and no hostages were ever taken. At 2PM, the guards had to abandon the pavilion, which was then under the control of the prisoners, who were settling their differences. At 2:50PM, the situation was evaluated as grave and was turned over to the Military Police, under the command of Coronel Ubiritan, who deemed it necessary to invade the pavilion. According to testimonies from both the prisoners and the guards, the prisoners began to put flags in the windows asking for a truce, and threw their knives (the only arms they had) out the windows, to show that they would not resist the invasion. Together the authorities decided that before the invasion, the director of the Detention House would try to negotiate by megaphone. This never happened. The "Shock Troops" of the Military police removed Dr. Pedrosa (the director) and moved in.
After occupying the courtyard inside the pavilion, the police moved to the upper floors, shooting with rifles, automatic weapons and bursts of fire from sub-machine guns. Many prisoners were shot while seated or lying on their beds with their hands on top of their heads, a clear sign of surrender. Ballistic exams stated that by the fact that the majority of the victims were shot in the head and the heart, a premeditated intention to kill was clear. Others were shot while they carried cadavers; and others, wounded, were carried to the barber shop of the prison and there shot. Many of them were bitten by dogs, also used in the operation. Access to the upper levels of Pavilion 9 was blocked by the military police. Eight men, wounded in the legs and arms, were put into a vehicle to carry them to the hospital. They never arrived at the hospital and were later counted among the dead. Bodies were removed and piled up in one locale. Evidence was destroyed and the scene of the crime was changed. All of this is verified in the official inquiries after the event.
Former prisoners who survived the massacre tell stories of atrocities. The bodies were all piled up, and according to a witness, the police ordered the cavalry to walk across the bodies to guarantee that none of them was still alive. As the prisoners were being sent down to the patio, they passed in front of an elevator shaft. Some military police randomly chose prisoners that they pushed into the elevator shaft, causing them to fall to their deaths. The actual estimates of victims ranges from the official 111 to 475. The reason for the large variance is that according to the police, all records were destroyed during the rebellion. One hundred eleven bodies were officially identified by family members. Any bodies not identified were probably not included in the count.
Members of the Prison Ministry of São Paulo told how, on the day after the massacre, they were outside Carandiru, trying to enter to see the prisoners, and as the pavilion was washed down, the water ran red into the streets of São Paulo.
A survey showed that 80% of the victims were still awaiting a sentence from the court system. At least half of those who died, 51 prisoners, were less than 25 years old. 75% of the deaths occurred inside of the cells- -proving that the prisoners were not all joined together at the walls, threatening violence, but in fact, had retreated to their cells to let the police enter.
The Inter-American Commission of Human Rights, which is a commission of the Organization of American States, condemned the Brazilian State for its violation of a number of rights guaranteed by the American Convention. According to the Commission, the Republic of Brazil violated its obligations resulting from Article 4- the right to life, and Article 5- the right to personal integrity. Not only did the Commission condemn Brazil for incompletion of these articles, but also, in the case of Carandiru, for its negligence in adopting strategies and adequate measures to prevent situations of violence and its deplorable living conditions.
On June 20th, in São Paulo, Coronel Ubiritan Guimarães, the military commander of the worst violence ever committed on State grounds, was judged by criminal courts and a citizen´s jury. Military documents and procedures clearly state that the responsibility for the results of any operation is of the commander of that operation. The State prosecutors stated "it is evident that a massacre occurred and that the Coronel was responsible for this by fact of being the highest authority inside the prison at that time." The procedures written for the Military police only allow for intermittent shots, when deemed necessary to quell a rebellion. The physical integrity of the prisoners needs to be preserved during rebellions. In this case, the evidence shows the prisoners had already surrendered their arms and control of the pavilion when the military entered firing submachine guns.
Representatives of human rights organizations from Brazil and from outside Brazil, families of the victims, jurists, government officials, religious, journalists and artists were invited to accompany this judgment, which was and still is fundamental in the fight against impunity and in the struggle to guarantee respect for human rights as a basic practice in Brazil.
In the early hours of Saturday, June 30th, a popular jury condemned Coronel Ubiritan Guimarães to 632 years of prison for the death of 102 of the prisoners who were massacred in Carandiru in October of 1992. The sentence gives 6 years for each of the homicides and 20 more years for 5 attempted homicides.
Human rights organizations are content that justice was served. In this case, however, it is clear that, while the commander of the operation, Ubiritan did not act alone. Many other officers were indicted and are still awaiting trial, hoping that as Coronel Ubirital is seen as as responsible, they will be able to hide behind a defense of "just following orders." The more than 25 human rights organizations that were a strong presence during the trial will continue to meet and strategize, as Ubiritan awaits the results of his appeal (for which the judge allowed him to wait at home), and other cases hopefully come to trial.
The closing comments for one of the prosecuting attorneys appropriately sum up the results of the trial, that "society will rewrite the last chapter of the history that is written on the walls of the cells and buried in the bodies of the victims."
Heidi Cerneka works in Sao Paulo with the Catholic Church’s Prison Ministry
URGENT ACTION APPEAL
from the Movement of Landless Workers (MST) of Pará - Amazônia -Brasi www.mstpa.org.br--Campaign for the freeing of Political Prisoners
On July 7 the Division of Special Operations (DIOE/PA) in the town of
Parauapebas arrested Eurival Martins (known as Totô), who is the leader
of the National Confederation of Cooperatives of Agrarian Reform of Brazil (CONCRAB) and
a member of the state directorate of the MST. The charge was forming a
gang to occupy the land of Jader Barbalho, president of the national
senate, in the town of Aurora (Pará). However, Totô was never president
in that particular occupation or even in that town, which is located in
the northeast of the state of Pará, more than 500 kilometers from the
location of his activities for agrarian reform in the south of Pará.
Totô is one of the oldest leaders of the MST in Pará and is a leader
known throughout Brazil for his militancy, a permanent fixture in the
struggle for land reform and also one of the survivors of the massacre
in Eldorado dos Carajás, where the Military Police of Pará killed
nineteen rural workers in 1996 and left sixty-nine others disabled. Up
until now the court of justice in Pará has been postponing the trial of
those involved.
The imprisonment of Totô has been used by the police of the state as an
attempt to put the brakes on the struggle of rural workers in Pará, and
the policy of the state government of Almir Gabriel has been a policy of
an actual war against the rural poor, perfecting methods of repression,
torture, and even murder. We need only recall the most recent data
released by the Pastoral Land Commission (CPT) from April to the
beginning of July of this year, noting 119 arbitrary arrests, 4
assassinations, 2,500 families expelled from the land (about 10,000
people), in addition to several mandates for the imprisonment and the
arrest of leaders of the MST and of FETAGRI.
The actions of the government of Pará against the rural poor intensified
during the past six months, with the intensification of the seige
against the social movements that resulted from the unending struggles
to try to bring about agrarian reform in a state known internationally
for the unequal concentration of land and the barbarous violence that
contrasts with the official propaganda of President Fernando Enrique
Cardoso and Governor Almir Gabriel.
The abritrary imprisonment of Totô, along with the continued
imprisonment of Dos Anjos her son, João Batista, is part of the context
of the repression that President Cardoso has been orchestrating, point
by point, in Brazil in the attempt to criminalize and isolate everyone
who is strugglingagainst injustice in this country.
We call out to all people and organizations committed to human rights
and the social struggles of peoples for a just society to send messages
of protest against the assassination of workers and for the liberation
of all political prisoners in the state of Pará. The addresses are as
follows:
Fernando Henrique Cardoso
Presidente da República
E-mail: pr@planalto.gov.br e governo@brasil.gov.br
Dr. José Gregori
Ministro da Justiça
Email: samico@mj.gov.br
Dra. Climenie Bernadette de Araújo Pontes
Presidente do Tribunal de Justiça do Estado do Pará.
Email: des.climenie.pontes@tj.pa.gov.br
Dr. Almir Gabriel
Governo do Estado do Pará
E-mail: cerimonial@prodepa.com.br
imprensa@prodepa.gov.br
seegov@prodepa.gov.br
Dep. Martinho Carmona
Presidente da Assembléia Legislativa do Pará
E-mail: mcarmona@supridados.com.br
Dr. Geraldo Mendonça Rocha
Procurador Geral de Justiça do Estado do Pará
E-mail: pgj@mp.pa.gov.br
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