Number 460, November 30, 2001.
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Dear SEJUP friends:
Since we are an all-volunteer staff and as our numbers on staff are
diminishing, we are searching for more efficient ways in which we can
continue to be of service to you and to the social movements of Brazil.
As an experiment, for the next few months we have decided to send out News
from Brazil twice a month instead of weekly. We will attempt to focus on
the larger issues facing Brazil and the social movements. Of course,
we will continue to send out Urgent Actions when appropriate.
We welcome you comments. Thank you for your continued interest and
support.
Sejup
In this week's issue:
>NEWS BRIEFS
-Rural landless workers and small farmers protest to renegotiate debts
-108 prisoners escape by tunnel in the Carandiru penitentiary in São Paulo
-Settlement reached in strike of federal university teachers after 99 days
-Senate approves alternative sentencing for drug users
-Effort to change Worker´s Laws is controversial
>WOMEN´S ISSUES
-Domestic Violence in Brazil
NEWS BRIEFS:
-Rural landless workers and small farmers protest to renegotiate debts
Rural landless worker families (MST) and the movement of small farmers (MPA) united on November 28 for a National Day of Struggle to demand that the federal government renegotiate the debts of the two groups. At the moment, more than 7,000 landless workers are camped in front of banks in the states of Ceará, Santa Catarina, Pernambuco, Rio Grande do Sul, Sergipe, Bahia, Paraná, São Paulo and Mato Grosso do Sul. While the government extended the term of payments of rural debts of large producers to at least 25 years of the $R32 billion that is owed to the public coffers , small farmers and landless workers have been unsuccessful in having their debts renegotiated to 7 years of payments. The intention of the National Day of Struggle is to pressure the National Monetary Council to include renegotiation of the debts and the agenda of the social movements in their meetings.
Source: Web Sites of PT (Worker´s Party), Nov. 28 and MST (Landless Movement), Nov. 28, 2001
-108 prisoners escape by tunnel from the Carandiru penitenciary
On November 26, 108 prisoners escaped by tunnel from the Carandiru penitentiary in São Paulo. There are approximately 10,000 prisoners in the Carandiru complex. In July of this year, 106 prisoners fled by another tunnel. Nagashi Furukawa, secretary of the Penitenciary Administration, said that 37 tunnels were discoverd at the complex this year.
Source: Folha de São Paulo
Date: Nov. 27, 2001
-Settlement reached in strike of federal university professors after 99 days
Professors at federal universities ended their strike of 99 days with a readjustment betweend 12% and 13% beginning in February 2002 as well as an increase of 3.5% conceded to public workers. The strike affected 480,000 students and caused many student protests throughout the country because of the lack of preparation of students for the college entrance examinations. The accord will cost the government R$328 million. Roberto Leher, preseident of Anes, the union of university professors, said that this accord signifies that "for the first time, the strikers pushed back the steam roller of the government".
Source: Correio da Cidadania
Nov. 17-24, 2001
-Senate approves alternative sentencing for drug users
On Tuesday, Nov. 27, the Senate amended the Law of Drugs (#6368) to provide for alternative sentences for drug users and to increase punishment for traffickers and producers of drugs. Alternative sentences include community service, drug treatment programs, temporary suspension of driver´s license, fines, as well as medical and pyschiatric treatment. The emphasis is on preventive actions and the recuperation of the drug user.
Source: Folha de São Paulo
Date: Nov. 28, 2001
-Efforts to Change Worker´s Law is Controversial
The vote on the project to change the CLT, Consolidation of the Laws of Work, to allow more flexibility took place in the Federal Congress on Nov. 28 (manually) but was annulled due to failure of the electronic panel vote. A number of opposition parties are not in favor of the changes which would relax the worker´s laws and put in risk rights already won since the 1940´s. These rights include: unemployment insurance, maternity leave, yearly 13th month salary, worker´s funds, fixed starting salary levels, and overtime pay. According to Congressman Paulo Paim (PT-RS), these changes in the CLT will lead to diverse losses for workers. President Fernando Henrique Cardoso has been mobilizing support of this project because of the pressure that he is suffering from businesses who want more flexibility in worker´s laws. Aécio Neves, president of the Congress, announced that the manual voting indicated that the project to change the CLT did not pass. However, supporters of the project are insisting on another electronic vote.
Source: Correio da Cidadania (Nov. 17-24) and web-site:terra.com.brasil (Nov. 29, 2001)
WOMEN´S ISSUES
-Domestic violence in Brazil
November 25 was the International Day to Eliminate Violence Against Women. Studies by the World Organization of Health indicate that "home" is the most dangerous place for a woman. According to world statistics, the risk of a woman being battered in the home by her husband or boyfriend is nine times greater than violence she may suffer outside the home.
Violence Against Women is the most practiced and least recognized of human rights violations. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights says that "no one should be submitted to torture, punishment or treatment that is cruel, inhuman or degrading." Yet, throughout the world, women and young girls suffer violence, torture and sexual abuse only for the fact that they are women. Last year in São Paulo, the principal cause of death of women between the ages of 10-49 years was aggression and homicides, a large majority of which occurred in the home. The number of registered complaints of domestic violence grew 44% between 1991 and 2001. Every three minutes in Brazil, the police document a violent act committed against a woman. This number is certainly underestimated because women still have a lot of fear and shame to denounce violence.
In Brazil, violence against women is a crime (Law #9.099.95). However, like many other laws, it exists only on paper and has not entered on the action agenda of Brazilian society. In addition, Law #9.099.95 considers domestic violence a crime of the lowest potential offense. This permits various agreements to be worked out by the aggressor. Thus, in a majority of cases of domestic violence against women, the punishment is very light--- to donate food to a needy family or do volunteer service. There is no attempt to have the aggressor see the seriousness of the crime or enter a program of rehabilitation. The aggressor receives a slap on the hands and returns home to continue the violence, which, according to statistics, gets worse with time. The "`Paulista Forum Against Domestic Violence" is trying to change this law but it is an uphill battle. Impunity and discriminatory treatment are still the rule.
Domestic violence is a manifestation of power and contributes to the construction and maintenance of inequality between the sexes. It is directly connected to the machismo and the exclusion of women in society.. Domestic violence exists in all social classes and is a societal problem, not just a family problem. Studies indicate that there is a direct link between domestic violence and the high rates of violence in our streets and schools. Accor-ding to statistics from the Paulista Forum, 90% of the juvenile offenders in Febem come from homes where there is domestic violence.
Domestic violence is a major social problem in Brazil where estimates indicate that as many as 50% of women are victims. It is aggravated by the high rates of alcoholism and unemployment and has devastating effects on the physical, mental and emotional health of women. The principal complaints include beatings, death threats, burns, rape, and sexual abuse. The victim usually is ashamed or fearful to speak of the problem because she feels that it is her fault. The insidious nature of domestic violence isolates the victim from others who usually blame her for not being a "good wife or good mother." Many times, she is fearful to lose her partner because of economic needs of the family.
Usually, women seek a Woman´s Police Station after suffering violence to denounce it and to seek help. In the best of worlds, the aggressor is called in for a hearing. However, testimonies by many women indicate that they are so humiliated at the police stations or threatened by their partner that they don´t follow through on placing the charge.
The DDM (Delegacias da Mulher), Women´s Police Stations, were established in Brazil as an effort to criminalize domestic abuse. The first Women´s Police Station was installed in 1985 in São Paulo and today there are 307 DDM´s, reaching about 9% of Brazilian cities. Conditions of work at the Women´s Police Stations are extremely precarious as indicated by a "National Study Regarding the Conditions and Functioning of the DDM´s" (October 2001) that was coordinated by anthropologist Kelly Cristiane da Silva and the National Council for the Rights of Women in partnership with the National Secretary of Public Security. Resources are scarce: only 11% of the delegacies have a social worker or psychologist; in a majority of the cases, training in counseling, mediation and negotiation is not included in the formation of the police officers; 20 % do not have a telephone line and only 13% have access to the internet/computer. Fifty-one percent of the police officers say that they do not use specialized police to treat cases of violence against women, and 62% complain about lack of basic information and procedures. Many studies show that a majority of violent crimes against women are committed during the weekend and the period between nighttime and dawn. Yet, 77% of the Women´s Police Stations do not function 24 hours a day and 76% don´t work on the weekends.
The precarious resources are explained by some police as to the low priority that is given to violence against women in the corporate police structures. A large majority of domestic violence cases do not even arrive at the Women´s Police Stations. Many times, those cases that do arrive at the stations find attitudes on the part of the police that effectively intimidate the victim, discouraging her from filing a report, or transferring to her the responsibility for the crime.
In the city of São Paulo with a population of 15 million people, there is only one public shelter for women suffering from domestic violence. A number of grassroots women´s groups are supporting women victims of domestic violence but the need is staggering. Casa Sofia is a domestic violence center that was founded two years ago to empower women victims of domestic violence and to provide psycho-social counseling, human rights awareness, and legal assistance. Casa Sofia has 15 volunteers and recently received funding from the municipality of São Paulo to establish a toll-free number (0-800) for domestic violence. This is a pilot project and already is receiving hundreds of calls each month.
The Brazilian women´s movement continues to actively campaign against domestic violence and to pressure the Brazilian justice system to investigate and to prosecute in a non-discriminatory manner crimes of domestic violence against women. Every woman does have a right to live without violence!!!
MST URGENT ACTION
- MST Worker Continues to Be Unjustly Jailed
Monday, November 26, 2001
Valdir Miesnerovtz*
Agricultural worker Cristiano José Batista da Silva continues to be held in the Caruaru Penitentiary in Pernambuco state. He was imprisoned on July 23rd for participating (along with hundreds of other workers) in an action that occurred that same day in Taquatinga do Norte, a city in the state s countryside.
After being imprisoned, Da Silva was tortured because he identified himself as leader of the MST. He was beaten and humiliated. He was later taken to the hospital where received medical treatment to keep him alive.
Accused of a robbery, Da Silva was denied parole by Idínio Oliveira de Araújo, District Judge of Taquatinga do Norte, in the Court of Justice and continues to be imprisoned.
So far no witnesses or testimony have been heard. Brazilian law states that if no witness or testimony is brought forward within 81 days, the accused is guaranteed freedom through parole. We assume that Da Silva’s arrest, aside from being illegal, is being used to inhibit popular initiatives and uprisings, therefore serving as a punitive example of what will happen to anyone who mobilizes and rebels against hunger and the drought industry. This industry is used widely throughout the northeast of Brazil as an electoral machine.
Our Plea
Please send messages demanding the immediate release of the agricultural worker Cristiano José Batista da Silva, in accordance with Brazilian constitutional law which grants him the right to be freed without testimony or evidence, which respects the principle of innocence until proven guilty through due process of law and legal defense. Beyond this, he has the right to demonstrate freely and fight for his survival.
Furthermore, we ask that responsible authorities set into motion public policies that combat hunger and misery. We also ask that true agrarian reform be implemented, the lack of which is responsible for the conflicts and suffering experienced by the majority of the Brazilian population.
Please fax letters to:
Dr. Idínio Oliveira de Araújo
Juiz da Comarca de Taquatinga do Norte Judge
(District Judge of Taquatinga do Norte)
Fax: 011 55 81 3733 1133
*SOURCE: Human Rights Sector of the MST, MST Informa Urgente
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