NEWS FROM BRAZIL supplied by SEJUP (Servico Brasileiro de Justica e Paz).
Number 518, October 8, 2004
In this issue of News from Brazil:
Update on GMO’s
Carandiru Massacre Case Paralyzed
Slave Labor in Brazil Fueled by Poverty
Update on GMO’s
This week the Brazilian Senate passed the “Law of Biosecurity,” which among
other things gives CTNBio (The National Technical Commission of Biosecurity) the
power to permit or not the planting and selling of genetically modified produce.
[See back issues of News from Brazil for more details.] Over the past years,
CTNBio has approved the use of such produce. The passing of this
legislation is a huge defeat for environmental and consumer rights groups who
have lobbied hard to defeat the measure. “The senators have shown that
the country is chained to the interests of big businesses who promote
transgenics,” said Greenpeace. The decision was on the other side a
clear victory from Monsanto, a US company which has for years been trying to
promote the acceptance of transgenics in the country. Now the measure must
go back to the House for approval. The House had previously approved the
bill, but other measures were added in the Senate. It is unlikely that the
vote will happen before the upcoming planting season of soy. Therefore,
the president may be forced to decide or not to sign another provisionary
measure which would allow the planting of transgenic soy for the 2004-2005
harvest.
Source: Folha de São Paulo
October 6, 2004
Carandiru Massacre Case Paralyzed
Even though the infamous Carandiru prison has been partially closed for two
years, the memory of the massacre of 111 inmates still continues. The
killing happened 12 years ago on October 2nd,
1992, when Antonio Fleury Filho was governor of the state of Sao Paulo.
Ubiratan Guimaraes commanded the operation which tried to put down a rebellion
happening in Pavilion 9 of the overcrowded prison, which at that time was jammed
with 7,000 prisoners. According to testimonies, the police were heavily
armed, and brutally killed defenseless prisoners, including some who were in no
way involved in the rebellion. [See back issues of News from Brazil for more
details on the Sejup website.]
Members of various human rights entities staged a protest in the center of Sao
Paulo on the anniversary of the massacre. They were rallying against the
complete inertia of the justice system concerning the case, which has been
paralyzed for years without one of the 84 police involved in the killings being
convicted. The case is now tied up in the Justice Tribunal of Sao Paulo
awaiting a decision concerning an appeal made in 1998.
With the trial’s delay, the crimes committed during the massacre begin to
become void, guaranteeing impunity for the executioners of the prisoners of
Carandiru. “The crimes of bodily assault and harm are already void, and
29 police will not even be judged for crimes which usually carry 20 year prison
sentences,” commented human rights advocates.
The entities pointed out that the only one who has been tried up to this point,
Coronel Guimaraes, continues to walk free despite a prison sentence of 632 years
for 102 homicides, a sentence emitted in 2001. After receiving the
sentence, the Coronel immediately appealed the decision and asked for an
annulment of the first trial. If his request is accepted, the sentence of
the popular jury will be annulled, and then he will be judged by a special organ
of the Tribunal Justice by virtue of the fact that for the past two years he has
held a public office, currently a congressman for the state of Sao Paulo.
In spite of books, films and the demolition of some of the buildings of
Carandiru, brutality of the Carandiru type continue. In 2003, there were
624 accusations of homicides committed by the police. Between the years
1995 and 2003 Sao Paulo police have killed 2,810 people. The majority of
the cases have never been investigated. The only cases which are
investigated are those in which human rights entities exert strong pressure.
Source: Evandro Bonfim, journalist, Adital
Slave Labor in Brazil Fueled by Poverty
Below is a translation of an interview that the magazine Jornal Sem Terra
conducted with Ricardo Rezende Figueira, who worked for 20 years in the state of
Para as a member of the Catholic Church’s Land Commission. He holds a
doctorate in Anthropology from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro.
Jornal Sem Terra: Statistics show that slave labor is increasing here in
Brazil. What are the reasons that in this the 21st
century slavery continues to be a reality in this country?
Ricardo Rezende Figueira: Debt slavery is a reality not only here in Brazil, but
in various other countries as well, including some First World (sic) countries.
One of the reasons that explains this type of slavery is that one the one hand,
you have extreme wealth, and on the other, extreme poverty. Where there
are people without work, without economic conditions to lead a dignified life,
there are also other people who can easily allure these others with false
promises of employment and salaries. Misery, or the absence of the
alternative to stay where one was born, where one has family ties and
friendships, forces people to emigrate. And the slave is always someone
who has emigrated, who is far from his/her land where s/he has nets of
protection. In these situations of great vulnerability, they easily become
victims. Another reason for the existence of slavery is impunity or the
absence of harsh measures which would deter the practice of this crime.
If, for example, there were a law which stated that those who held slaves would
automatically lose their land, then they would be afraid to engage in this
practice. There has been such a proposal tied up in Congress for years now
which would make this a constitutional amendment. This would be an
important instrument for eradicating slavery in Brazil.
JST: Slave labor is a recurring practice in rural areas of the country.
But how is the situation in urban areas?
RRF: Yes, it is a recurring problem in rural areas and we have
information about it. The Catholic Church’s Land Commission does an
excellent job of monitoring the situation and there are government groups
seriously working to resolve the situation. But regarding urban areas,
where certainly the crime happens with frequency, there are no social
organizations that have the same antennas, ready to identify the problem and
denounce it. Probably the most common urban slaves in Brazil would be from
neighboring countries, or from Asia or Africa. The problem affects
foreigners who come here without official documents and are afraid of being
deported from the country. They come to Brazil for economic reasons or
fleeing persecution in their countries of origin. But there are also
Brazilians who are also in slave-like conditions in the city, including
domestics.
JST: Besides big landowners, have big agribusinesses also participated [in the
problem of rural slavery]?
RRF: Slavery happens not only on the properties of uninformed landowners, but
also on the estates of the most sophisticated businesses which have all of the
latest technology.
JST: How can we eradicate slavery?
RRF: Eradication depends on a consciousness of the problem on the part of civil
society. Citizens must be alert and pressure authorities; punishment must
be carried out. Besides this, there must be a series of measures enacted
besides that of the law which would take away land from those engaged in the
crime: namely, literacy and professional training for the victims, generation of
new jobs, and social justice.
Source: Jornal Sem Terra
September, 2004
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.