Number 57, December 10, 1992.

HUMAN RIGHTS

- Prison massacre reflects police methodology according to Report.

The massacre of 111 prisoners and the wounding of a further 110 persons in the Casa de Detencao, Sao Paulo, on October 2 last was not an isolated act but was the result of a methodology of excess on the part of the Military Police of Sao Paulo according to a Report prepared by the Commission of the Defense of the Rights of the Human Person (Comissao de Defesa dos Direitos da Pessoa Humana - CDDPH). The Commission was composed of representatives from the Brazilian Lawyers Association (OAB), from the Office of the General Procurator of the Republic and from the Brazilian Press Association (Associacao Brasileira de Imprensa). The document accuses the Military Police of Sao Paulo of using summary executions, arbitrary aggressions and torture as elements of their methodology and was presented to the Minister for Justice, Mauricio Correa, on December 3. The Report describes the assassination of the 111 prisoners on October 02 as "a real massacre which is without parallel in the history of the world prison system".

"It is obvious that the Sao Paulo police is far removed from using its lethal power only to protect members of the police force and the life of the citizens" states the document which goes on to remember that during the last decade the Military Police of Sao Paulo killed 42 times more people that the police of New York (Sao Paulo Police killed 1.140 people in 1991 while the New York police killed 27). Statistics show that in Sao Paulo there are three times more people killed by the police than wounded. According to the report, this statistic alone proves that many of the killings are summary executions.

According to the Report, the invasion by the police of the Casa de Detencao on October 2 happened in the context of this police methodology. There were no negotiations attempted with the prisoners who were unarmed. Marcelo Lavenere, president of the OAB claimed that a "summary shooting" of the prisoners took place; he demanded that those responsible be punished and that the administration of the prisons be removed from the Secretariat of Public Security.

Meanwhile the report prepared by State Deputy Vicente Botta of the Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry of the Sao Paulo Legislature on the question of the prison killings concludes that there was no "massacre" of the prisoners but merely "excess" on the part of the Military Police. The report does not accuse any of the officers of the military police and frees the former State Secretary for Security, Pedro Franco de Campos as well as State Governor, Luiz Antonio Fleury Filho from all blame. However the Military Police is accused in the report of interfering with evidence surrounding the killing of the prisoners, of not negotiating with the prisoners and of having committed excess on the third floor of the prison where 68 prisoners were killed; many of this group according to the coroner's office were executed. The report was passed by 9 votes to 4 by the members of the Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry.

The Labor Party (PT) Deputies who took part in the Parliamentary Inquiry do not agree with the report findings. The PT members blame the military commanders, the former Secretary for Security and the State Governor for what they classify as a massacre. A minority report prepared by the PT states that two prisoners, Antonio Marcio dos Santos and Jose Ronaldo Vilela da Silva died as a result of gun wounds to their hearts in police cars on their way to the hospital. According to PT Deputy Eloi Pieta "both of these prisoners were seen alive entering the police car. Jose Reinaldo was talking when he entered the car. A person with a bullet wound to the heart would not be able to continue talking".

- Commission seeks a solution for the case of those who disappeared during the military regime.

In a report on December 04 last, the Folha de Sao Paulo outlines an effort on the part of a commission comprised of procurators from the Federal Public Ministry and representatives from the Ministry of Justice as well as from the army to come up with a permanent solution for those who disappeared during the military regime in Brazil. The group, according to the report has been meeting in secret during recent weeks and has managed to define two objectives: to make a proposal as to how the archives of the army can be opened and to make a proposal as to how the families of those who disappeared may receive compensation.

The report claims that the army archives will not be open to the public in general. One of the proposals here is that a commission of "notables" would be established. This commission would then have access to the army documentation and would seek information on the 144 persons missing since the military regime. Many sectors of the army are opposed to the opening of this question and the proposal being discussed is seen as a compromise one.

The Folha claims that the commission began its discussions due to the recent statements to the press and to the Federal Police of former army sergeant Marival Chaves. According to Chaves, the army took part in the torture and subsequent assassinations of persons on the list of the 144 who have disappeared.

URBAN QUESTIONS

- Newly named Secretary of Housing calls favelas (shanty town) dwellers "bandits".

The newly appointed Municipal Secretary of Housing of Sao Paulo, Joao Mellao Netto, recently appointed by mayor elect Paulo Salim Maluf, plans to eliminate all the small favelas of Sao Paulo especially those in high class areas. Referring to the dwellers of such favelas as "bandits" he went on to comment "the favelas with less than a hundred dwellers, especially those in high class areas, usually become nuclei for criminal elements".

He went on to say that he had no plans for the rehousing of the people who would be expelled from such favelas but commented that such people would not be eligible to occupy the 120 thousand new houses which mayor elect Maluf promised to construct during the next four years.

These comments provoked numerous reactions of indignation from various entities representing favela dwellers. "The criminals are the members of the government who steal the people's money" commented Maria Niceia da Conceicao of the Favela Urbanization Movement (Movimento de Urbanizacao de Favelas - Murf). According to Paulo Conforto of the Movement for the Defense of the Favela Dwellers (Movimento de Defesa dos Faveladas - MDF), the problem is a social one and "the new Secretary wants to transform it into a police question". State Deputy Jamil Murad of the Communist Party sent a document to the Procurator General of the State of Sao Paulo, Antonio Araldo Ferraz Dal Pozzo, on December 2 last requesting that the "necessary measures" be taken against Mellao Netto. According to Deputy Murad, the recently named Secretary of Habitation committed a "racist and reactionary" act. He went on to state that this act "is an attempt on the elementary and primary rights of decent people and citizens, honest and dignified people who unfortunately live in thousands in the hundreds of favelas which exist in our city".

On December 03, mayor elect Maluf demanded that his recently named Secretary of Habitation apologize publicly. Mellao Netto's apology was offered in very general terms and he later stated that one of his first tasks as Secretary of Habitation would be the setting up of a Favela Council.

A recent census carried out by the present Secretariat of Housing indicated that there are presently 1.805 favelas in the city of Sao Paulo. Of this number approximately a thousand favelas have a population of less than 500 people. The entire favela population of the city is approximately 1 million and the census shows that 74% of the heads of families in the favelas are working.

RURAL QUESTIONS

- Judges request the impeachment of Governor of the State of Parana because of his support of the rural landless workers.

The Association of Judges (Associacao de Magistrados) recently registered a petition of impeachment against the Governor of the State of Parana, Roberto Requiao. He is accused by this entity of stimulating the occupation of land by the landless and of refusing to observe court orders which demand that the state military police be used in the expulsion of families who have occupied such areas. The Movement of Landless Rural Workers (Movimento dos Trabalhadores Rurais Sem Terra - MST) which has organized the occupation of approximately 40 areas in the State of Parana recently started a campaign of solidarity in favor of Governor Requiao.

Since Requiao became Governor of the State of Parana he has consistently supported agrarian reform and has treated agrarian conflicts as social problems which cannot be solved by repression. The ranchers have frequently requested the support of the military police to expel the landless occupiers but the state government has refused to support this request. For this reason, a campaign in favor of the intervention of the Federal Government in the State of Parana was initiated. This question went to the Supreme Court and was resolved when the government of Parana agreed to buy an area to which the landless families could be transferred. The MST claim that the present campaign on the part of the judges against Governor Requiao is one which is directed as well against agrarian reform in Brazil.

The MST can be contacted at the following address:

Rua Ministro Godoy 1484,

05015-001 Sao Paulo,

SP, Brazil.

Fax (011)871-4612; phone (011)864-8977.

CHURCHES

- President of the Brazilian National Conference of Catholic Bishops (CNBB) makes important social demands of the Minister for Justice.

The President of the CNBB, Dom Luciano Mendes de Almeida, in a recent meeting with the Minister for Justice, Mauricio Correa, presented a number of important social demands.

Dom Luciano requested that the indigenous lands be immediately demarcated and reminded the Minister that the time span given for this process by the Constitution is October 1993. He further requested that families who have members who disappeared during the military regime be issued with their death certificates. The issue of such certificates is necessary to resolve a number of legal problems being faced by the families in question. Dom Luciano also outlined for Minister Correa the urgency of the economic situation and the grave social questions.

- The Brazilian National Conference of Catholic Bishops (CNBB) will give orientations about next April's referendum.

Within the next few weeks the CNBB will begin to distribute a document outlining criteria which should guide the discussions leading up to the referendum on April 21 next which will decide on the kind of government which will be adopted by Brazil. According to the document, it is important that the voters question and evaluate well the different options for the form of government - monarchy or republic, parliamentaranism or presidentialism.

In the document, the CNBB outlines five points of reference which should help the voters make their choice next April. It is necessary to examine:

- How the political regime to be chosen will facilitate participation.

- Which regime allows the greater control of society over those who govern.

- Which regime allows for a greater transparency in government activity.

- Which regime allows for a greater co-responsibility between the different powers.

- Which regime is more efficient in resolving national problems.

- Latin American assembly of Pentecostal Churches takes place in Sao Paulo.

An assembly of Pentecostal Churches in Latin America took place in Sao Paulo between November 23 and 28. The assembly brought together 120 pastors from 15 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean representing 53 denominations.

According to the co-ordinator of the event, Pastor Gamaliel Lugo of the Venezuelan Evangelical Pentecostal Union, there are two kinds of pentecostalism present today in Latin America. The first is the traditional and more closed pentecostalism and the second enters into dialogue and is more present in the area of the great social questions. "This latter is the pentecostalism which has made an option for the poor sectors" commented Pastor Lugo.

Pentecostalism is quickly spreading in Latin American countries. In Chile the estimate is that 40% of the population already belongs to one or other pentecostal church. In Brazil, the estimate is that the pentecostal churches are receiving 1 million new members each year.

CHILDREN

- More children assassinated in the city of Sao Paulo this year than in the rest of Brazil.

394 children and adolescents were assassinated in the city of Sao Paulo between January and August of this year according to a report prepared by Pro-Aim (Programa de Aprimoramento de Informacoes sobre Mortalidade). Pro-Aim is an organ of the municipal government of Sao Paulo.

According to the report, an average of 1,6 children are assassinated daily in Sao Paulo city. Thus the total of deaths in the city until the end of August last is greater than that in the rest of Brazil until the end of last October. 394 children were assassinated in Sao Paulo between January and August and 345 children and adolescents were assassinated between January and October in the rest of the country. Amongst the 394 victims, 3 were less than one year old, 14 were between one and nine years of age and 249 or 62,7% were between 13 and 17 years old. The months with the highest frequency of assassinations were June (63), January (60) and May (54) while the month with the lowest frequency of assassinations was February with 33 registered.

- 93 adolescents escape from the Imigrantes Unit of FEBEM (children's prison) in Sao Paulo.

On Saturday December 07, 93 of the 135 adolescents held in the Imigrantes Unit of FEBEM escaped; 23 were later recaptured. Imigrantes was originally built to house poor children without families but after the disturbances in another unit of FEBEM - Tatuape, Sao Paulo, was used to house adolescents from Tatuape.

The mass escape took place at approximately 2.30 P.M. during a physical education class when approximately 50 adolescents broke down an iron gate. The 93 adolescents then easily managed to scale the two meter wall which surrounded the building.

Following the mass escape the Secretary for Minors of the State of Sao Paulo, Rosmary Correa, stated that she planned to take measures to prevent the "importation" of youth offenders into the city of Sao Paulo. She went on to explain that municipalities in the interior of the state do not have facilities to house their youth offenders and so many are sent to the state capital; this provides serious overcrowding in the various Febem units.

URBAN WORKERS

- Almost 14 million people work in the informal sector.

A recent survey carried out by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatistica - IBGE) shows that the informal sector of the economy accounts for 13,94 million workers in Brazil. This represents 22,4% of those who work in Brazil which totals 62,1 million people.

Only 38,1% of all workers (23,63 million people) are officially registered. Of those who are not registered, 71,5% work in small firms where less than 10 people are employed. Of those officially registered, 83,3% work in large firms. Of the 62,1 million works in the country, 1,67 million (2,7%) earn 20 minimum salaries or more (just under U.S. $1000) per month.

- Lay-offs on the increase.

Various companies are in the process of laying - off large number of workers. Mercedes-Benz announced recently that it plans to lay-off 1.000 of its 14.800 workers in the Sao Bernardo do Campo plant. According to a company spokesperson the lay-offs are due to the fact that the sales of trucks manufactured by the company fell by 15% during the last year.

Volkswagen also announced that during 1993 it plans to lay - off between 3.000 and 4.000 of its 37.500 workers. The company claims that this is necessary in order to reduce costs and to increase productivity so as to be able to compete in the international automobile sector. This statement is contested by many of the workers who remember that the company increased its productivity in Brazil this year by 15% more than in 1991.

Mineracoes Brasileiras Reunidas S/A of Belo Horizonte, State of Minas Gerais recently dismissed 406 of its 2.906 workers. The trade union which locally represents the workers working in the iron mining sector commented that this move on the part of the company was totally unexpected since there are no sales problems on a world scale for ore.

INDIGENOUS QUESTIONS

- Columbian fishing boats accused of serious over fishing in Brazilian indigenous areas.

According to a denouncement from the Tikuna indians who live in Brazil on the frontier with Peru and Columbia, fishing boats from the latter country are once again invading their lakes and are taking away "tons on top of tons" of fish from these lakes.

According to the denouncement made by Tikuna spokesperson, Pedro Mendes, this predatory style of fishing is causing the serious decrease of certain kinds of fish which were abundant in the region until a few years ago. The fishing boats are financed by Columbian companies who provide equipment, fuel and the motors. It is feared that the invasion of these fishing boats could at any moment provoke conflicts between the indians and those working on the boats. This kind of activity in indigenous territory is forbidden by the Brazilian Constitution.

- A member of the Gaviao Pukobye group is assassinated by lumber merchants.

On December 01, Domingos Paulino, a Gaviao Pukobye indian of the municipality of Amarante, State of Maranhao was assassinated by a lumber merchant known as "Coaraci". A police inquiry has been set up but the assassin has not yet been imprisoned. During recent years Domingos had received numerous death threats from the lumber merchants.

Domingos was chief of the Riachinho village and became known for his refusal to negotiate the sale or removal of timber from the indigenous area. Nevertheless, the area where Domingos lived was frequently visited by lumber merchants since the area is divided by a road which gives access to the Arariboia indigenous area. The Guajajara indians of the latter area have frequently sold timber to the local lumber merchants. With the death of Domingos, the Gaviao Pukobye are threatening to close the road.

After Domingos death, a spokesperson for the Gaviao group, Cabelo Ruivo, declared in the local press "We do not sell timber because the forest is almost finished". He went on to affirm that the abandoned state of the neighboring Guajajara forced them to "exchange timber for their very existence". According to Cabelo Ruivo, many times they are cheated since much of the timber is taken out by night without any control on the part of the indians. When control exists, the prices offered range from U.S. $3 to $8 per cubic meter of hardwood.

Part of the wood removed from the territory of the Guajajara indians is used for smelting in the furnaces in Armante. The timber trade has greatly enriched certain sectors of the population in the town especially so the lumber merchants. However local residents complain that there is a continuous cloud of smoke and dust over the city which has provoked the increase of pulmonary and skin problems locally. Estimates from the local trade unions indicate that within two years the timber in the surrounding area will be depleted and that the town of Amarante will be plunged into misery.

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