Number 73, April 8, 1993

IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT:

The format of our bulletin will be modified.

Because of suggestions from a number of our readers, we propose to introduce changes in the format of our bulletin BEGINNING APRIL 15. Each section will now be sent as a separate bulletin, to cater to the different interest groups among our readers. Thus, we will have separate bulletins on topics such as:land questions, indigenous questions, women, human rights, etc. We will continue to place these materials in the Ax.Agen Eng. conference each Thursday. We would appreciate receiving your comments regarding this new format.

ECOLOGY

- Pilgrimage alerts population about threat to Sao Francisco river.

A statue of St. Francis, patron saint of ecology, being brought down the river, Sao Francisco, carried by a group of missionaries. The pilgrimage began in October of 1992 and intends to cover the whole course of the river, one of the biggest and most important in Brazil, with 2700 ks and crossing no less than five States.

The campaign is called: "St. Francis visits, that the river may always live". Much of the river runs through the Northeastern region of Brazil, where millions of Brazilians have been hit by one of the worst ever droughts in recent history. The pilgrims warn along the way, that the river, (fondly known as "Velho Chico" (old Chico)), is dying. "Over the last few years", they say, "we have seen the river, who is our mother and father, agonize, because of the destruction of the vegetation along it's banks; because of the construction of great dams, that forced the uprooting of hundreds of families and caused dramatic environmental changes; because of the great irrigation schemes that are ruining the soil of the valley with salt and creating a desert; because of industrial pollution, toxic fertilizers and sewage".

The missionaries go on to explain, "all of this aggression is carried out in the name of progress, a progress which benefits only the few and makes the river people poorer every day. They are forced from their land and end up in the shanty-towns of the great cities. The poorest are the ones who suffer most, with old Chico's agony".

The pilgrimage is one of the most popular manifestations of religion in Brazil and this one, which started in Serra da Canastra, in Minas Gerais - where the river Sao Francisco springs from - reminds us of the phrase of Francis of Assis, "Praise to the Lord for Sister Water, who is useful and humble, precious and pure".

HUMAN RIGHTS

- NGOs and government prepare Brazilian participation in World conference on Human Rights.

With two meetings set for next week in Brasilia, the federal government and non-governmental organizations, have intensified their preparations for the World Conference on Human Rights, to be held in Viena, Austria, between the 14th and 25th of June. The conference hopes to promote a revision of the basic concepts of the international human rights conventions, based on changes in the international scene over the past few years.

NGOs working in different areas will meet, on the 14th of April, at the headquarters of the Institute for Socio-economic Studies (INESC), in Brasilia, to discuss the conference. Many of these NGOs will participate in Viena. On the following day, another meeting will be held between the federal government and the NGOs, to exchange ideas on the conference. The Minister for External Affairs, Fernando Henrique Cardoso and the Minister of Justice, Mauricio Correa, will probably be present, as well as representatives from the NGOs, including, the National Movement for Human Rights, IBASE, INESC and AGEN.

- Campaign to defend Palestinian prisoners starts.

Political rights groups, trade union organizations and political parties have just started a campaign, in Brazil, to defend the rights of Palestinian political prisoners. A public protest is programmed for the 14th next, outside the Israeli embassy, in Brasilia.

The plea to form an International committee in defense of the Palestinians prisoners states that the situation of the 415 Palestinians expelled from Israel by the government, into a "no-man's land", in Lebanon territory, "tragically, illustrates the condition of the palestinian people, who, since 1948, have known only deportation, exile, repression, refugee camps and poverty".

According to the document, today there exists over 13,700 Palestinian political prisoners in Israeli prisons, most of them detained without trial". Since the beginning of the "Intifada" (the Palestinian's permanent rebellion), almost 80 thousand palestinians have been jailed and many tortured.

The public protest is being convoked by various entities, including the National Movement for Human Rights, the Unified Negro Movement, the Communist Party of Brazil, INESC, the Women's Movement, the Landless Worker's Movement and the Convergencia Socialista.

PRISONS

- Human rights commission denounce violence against juvenile offenders.

On April 5th, the "Teotonio Vilela" Commission for Human Rights, visited the Juvenile Detention Center (Febem) in Sao Paulo, to investigate accusations of ill-treatment and beatings during a rebellion that took place in the complex, on the 30th of March.

Although, the State Secretary for Children, Rosmary Correa, had denied that any children were hurt, the commission found that 75 of the 117 boys, imprisoned in the pavilions that rebelled, had some kind of injury, 7 with serious cuts. According to Senator Eduardo Suplicy, of the Worker's Party, "there were boys with back, head and arm injuries, probably caused by iron bars or batons". The Rev. Fr. Julio Lancelotti, from the Catholic Church's Pastoral Care for Minors Group, accused the authorities of delaying medical treatment for the injured and of trying to cover the real dimension of the rebellion.

The director of Febem alleged that he was only informed of the extent of the rebellion on Friday, two whole days later. He said he would hold an inquiry into the matter, but confessed to be more interested in knowing why the children rebelled. "These minors are extremely dangerous", he added.

- Presbyterians launch project for prison pastoral care.

A project called "I was in prison and you visited me", was launched on April 2nd, at a meeting in the headquarters of the Independent Presbyterian Church of Brazil, in Sao Paulo. According to it's coordinator, Pastor Jose Corinto de Oliveira, the project will promote work in favor of humanizing prison conditions for the men and women detained in the Sao Paulo's district prisons.

The prisons are, constantly, overcrowded and the prisoners are often forced to staged rebellions in order to highlight their grievances.

The project also hopes to accelerate the release process for those who have already served their time. Many prisoners spend more time in jail than they were sentenced to, because of the extremely slow process of the Brazilian criminal justice system.

RURAL QUESTIONS

- Hunger strike for agrarian reform ends.

The hunger strike of landless workers and activists for agrarian reform, which lasted 22 days, ended yesterday, the 6th of April, in Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul.

The results of the strike were considered positive, in terms of mobilizing public opinion and putting pressure on the government. According to the strikers, the sacrifice was "worthwhile", for three reasons:

1. The question of Agrarian reform was put before the federal government;

2. The population showed solidarity with the movement

and 3. Some concrete measures were taken by the authorities.

The land question in Rio Grande do Sul, for instance, was discussed twice, in Brasilia, with president Itamar Franco and his Ministers.

Among the measures negotiated were the liberation of grants to buy land for the rural workers, camped on the roadsides of Rio Grande do Sul and a promise that immediate studies would be made for the settling of other landless families in Rio Grande.

- Workers living under slave conditions.

Although it's been over a hundred years since the abolition of slavery in Brazil, the number of registered cases of slavery has tripled between 1991 and 1992.

According to a dossier made by the church's Pastoral Committee for Land (CPT),- Brazil had 4,883, cases confirmed in 91 and 16,442 in 92. The CPT (National Committee) alert that the real figures are a lot higher, since most people prefer to remain silent for fear of reprisals. Promises of good salaries, food and lodging are use to entice whole families from the North and Northeast of the country. They are kept on the farms, often working 11 hours a day, 7 days a week and when they want to leave they find themselves unable to do so, because they have no money and the gates are manned by gunmen.

In Rio de Janeiro, a report from the CPT and the Federation of Agricultural workers (Fetag), say there are at least 200 thousand rural workers living in a state of semi-slavery. They receive less than a minimum salary and are forced to work more than 12 hours a day, 7 days a week. Examples of this kind of slavery can be found, they say, less than half a hours journey from the center of Rio.

NEGRO

- Descendants of slaves want their land rights recognized.

A commission of the descendants of the Quilombo (an area where freed or runaway slaves lived in community to protect themselves and their families and cultivate the land), called Rio das Ras, in Bahia, met with the Ministers for Culture and Justice, on April 5th, to demand that the land on which they live for more than a century, be formally recognized as theirs.

For the last 12 years, the negro families in this region have been persecuted by gunmen, paid by the rancher, Carlos Vasconcelos Bonfim, who refuses to allow the families to live in peace. Although, two court orders were given in favor of the negro families, they have had their lands invaded and around 70 houses in the area were burnt down.

The Minister for culture promised to step up the socio-anthropological studies, that by federal law would give the descendants of the negro freedom communities, complete rights over their land. The Quilombo families have the support of the local bishop, d. Francisco Batistela C.SS.R., the CPT and Agricultural Worker's Confederation (Contag).

CHURCH

- Bishops to debate democracy and new world order.

The third Ecumenical Meeting of Bishops of the Latin American Council of Churches (CLAI) and the Christian Churches of the Caribbean, set for next July, in Nova Iguacu, Rio de Janeiro, will discuss the themes of "Crisis in Democracy" and "the New World Order".

Among those hosting the event are d. Adriano Hipolito, bishop of Nova Iguacu, d. Mauro Morelli, bishop of Duque de Caxias, (RJ) and the president of CLAI, the Argentine Methodist bishop, Federico Pagura.

Former meeting s of this group were held in Kingston (Jamaica) in 1991 and Cuenca, (Equador) in 1986.

Other themes to be discussed at the meeting are the questions of the neo-liberal economic model and the alarming growth of poverty in Latin America and the Caribbean.

SOCIAL QUESTIONS

- Fight against poverty gets more support.

On the 12th of April, the secretary for the Commission to Combat Hunger, d. Mauro Morelli, bishop of Sao Joao de Meriti, Rio de Janeiro and the sociologist, Herbert de Souza, "Betinho", will travel to Brasilia to consolidate plans and proposals for a citizen's action campaign to tackle the enormous problem of hunger in Brazil.

"We're going to start a huge movement creating regional committees to combat hunger", says Betinho, at a ceremony, in which the rector of the University of Rio de Janeiro, Hesio Cordeiro, formally pledged the university's cooperation with the movement.

The idea is to involved all civil entities and organizations like trade unions, universities, NGOs, the Lawyers Associations and Churches. Betinho says that one of the priorities for the Rio committee is to get an update on the "Map of Hunger", a document produced by the Institute for Applied Economic Research (Ipea), showing the areas where the problem of hunger is most pressing. The committee want an accurate picture so that a political policy can be found, guaranteeing proper nourishment for the whole population.

They also want to identity food-stocks that already exist (the Bank of Brazil should help them with this) and food production areas, as well as initiatives already in progress.

The theologian, Leonardo Boff, professor of Philosophy at Uerj, stated that the universities must also do their share. "The moral scandal and physical degeneration of 32 million poor and of the other 60 million Brazilians who have only one meal per day, must be transformed into action. The universities must put their knowledge and research capabilities at the service of this campaign against hunger", he says.

Hesio Cordeiro, referring to the Ipea figures, pointed out that Brazil is one of the biggest exporters of grain in the world and well capable of providing the necessary calories and proteins to overcome the problem of hunger in Brazil.

POLITICS

- New political party formed.

The political scenario in Brazil has moved into top gear for next year's presidential elections. Last Sunday, the 4th of April, a new political party was formed. The old PDS party (the Democratic Social party - that served the military regime) and the PDC (the Christian Democrats) joined forces to form the new PPR (the Progressive Reformer Party -"Partido Progressista Reformador").

With 73 federal deputies and ten senators, (making them the third largest party in parliament), the new party gives Paulo Maluf, (the present mayor of Sao Paulo, who took office only three months ago), a firm base from which to launch his presidential campaign.

The president of the new party is Esperidiao Amin, while five ex-ministers are on the executive committee: Delfim Neto, Borges da Silveira, Francisco Dornelles, Alfonso Camargo and Pratini de Moraes.

Right now, Maluf hopes Sao Paulo's city hall (where he has 30 of a total of 55 seats) will approve a supplementary budget of US$ 500 million so he can start immediate work on projects that will create a national impact.

Meanwhile, the strongest candidate for the presidency, Luis Inacio Lula da Silva, of the Worker's Party, is planning four long journeys called "caravans for citizenship". The first of these journeys will take in 52 cities, tracing the journey Lula made in 1952, when he left his hometown, in Pernambuco, to join his father, who worked, at the time, as dockworker in Santos, Sao Paulo. According to Lula, the tour hopes to highlight the plight of the silent majority, discussing such questions as the rural exodus, an industrial policy for the Northeast, agrarian reform, and especially the problem of hunger.

Of the other probable candidates, Orestes Quercia, of the PMDB, having been involved in several scandals, finds that his own party is reluctant to support him and Leonel Brizola, of the PDT, has the problem of trying to erase the memory of his support for the disastrous Collor administration.

- Maluf promises to transform municipal guard into repressive police force.

The Mayor of Sao Paulo, Paulo Salim Maluf, of the new Progressive Reformer Party (a fusion of the right-wing parties, PDS and PDC - Social and Christian Democrats), is going to transform the Civil Metropolitan Guard (GCM), created by former mayors, Luiza Erundina, into a new version of the ROTA, the elite unit of the military police of the State of Sao Paulo. Maluf made the promise during a meeting with taxi-drivers, one of his most loyal group of followers.

The announcement has caused much concern among human right entities and grassroot movements, who point out that the GCM wasn't created for this purpose, but rather to look after public property and especially to police school areas.

The ROTA are infamous for the number of people they have killed in the Greater Sao Paulo region.

LABOR ISSUES: UPDATE

- Calfat seamstresses continue their struggle.

(The following is an update of a story we brought to your attention last December.)

The 128 seamstresses of the Jorge Calfat Clothing Factory in Sao Paulo, who were locked out of their jobs in January, 1992 without receiving their December salaries and other benefits, have made some advances in their struggle for justice. However, they continue to seek full compensation.

In February, 1992, the seamstresses filed suit against Calfat and, because they were unable to find Calfat himself to express their demands, began an encampment in front of the mansion of Jorge Calfat's father. The encampment lasted until this past February, when Calfat's lawyer indicated that he was ready to negotiate. Part of the back pay and benefits were paid ($428,000,000 cruzeiros-worth approximately US$25,000 at the time). An additional $700,000,000 cruzeiros ( worth over US$40,000) is still outstanding.

The seamstresses have decided not to return to Jorge Calfat's father's mansion, but continue to look for Calfat himself. According to Maria das Gracas of the Clothing and Seamstresses Union of Sao Paulo and Osasco, Calfat is in Brazil, but is not living at a fixed address. If the union does find him, the seamstresses will likely camp out in front of his house until the rest of the money is paid.

Jorge Calfat has been indicted by the Sao Paulo State Attorney General's office under the charge of "premeditated bankruptcy". If tried and convicted, he will serve a four-year sentence. A federal criminal process is also underway to indict Calfat for crimes against labor rights. The Seamstresses Union believes that letters sent to the judges handling these cases can help put pressure on Calfat. Letters can be addressed to:

Juiz Fernando Antonio da Cunha

38 Vara Civel

Processo 94/91

Forum Joao Mendes

Praca Joao Mendes

01501-000 Sao Paulo, SP, BRASIL

(for the state case on premeditated bankruptcy)

and to:

Juiz Dr. Andre Nabarrete

3a.Vara Criminal

Processo 92.0101648-4

Praca da Republica, 229, 2 Andar

01045-000 Sao Paulo, SP,BRASIL

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