and Servico Brasileiro de Justica e Paz.
Number 85, July 1, 1993
HUMAN RIGHTS
- Latin American Congress against torture and impunity
On June 28, the Torture Never More Group in Sao Paulo
published a letter of invitation for the XII Congress of the
Latin American Federation of Associations of Relatives of Missing
Political Prisoners (Fedefam), which will be held between
November 24 and 29, in Sao Paulo.
"We are witnessing the political consequences of impunity on
this continent. Giving in to the power of criminal authorities
was deemed more desirable than attending the legitimate
aspirations of justice. Today, protected by the reigning
impunity, the practice of forced disappearances, murders,
arbitrary imprisonments and torture, continues. It is
particularly serious that these crimes - some born of the
dictatorships, others aggravated by them - have continued to
exist as if repression was endemic", says the letter, which adds,
"from the most dramatic cases of Peru, Columbia and Guatemala, to
those countries where these crimes are committed more
sporadically, the police and armed forces continue to violate
basic human rights".
The Torture Never More Group also express their grave concern
about, "the growth in everyday violence, abandoned children,
corrupt governments, the privatization of State companies in the
hands of foreigners, all hallmarks of the present Latin American
continent".
The document stresses that, "Fedefam, born out of the struggle
to free imprisoned and missing political prisoners, never
distanced itself from the struggle of other sectors of oppressed
society. We believe that the population must understand and
defend their human rights, for no one will do this for them".
The Congress, as well as drawing attention to the question of
forced disappearances and impunity, hopes to created greater
integration between the Latin American countries. The theme of
the Congress is "Violence and Impunity, Never More".
- Homage contested by human rights group
The Torture Never More group handed in a dossier, on June
27th, to President Itamar Franco, denouncing the active
involvement of Colonel Dalmo Lucio Muniz Cirillo, with the
repressive forces, during the military dictatorship in Brazil.
The Colonel was awarded with the Order of Merit of the Armed
Forces, by Itamar himself, on the 21 of June. Representatives of
human rights organizations were surprised and indignant about the
award. "It's degrading", said Cecilia Coimbra, secretary general
of the Torture Never More group.
According to the dossier, from 1975, Colonel Dalmo, a captain
at the time, headed the Doi-Codi secret police in Sao Paulo,
participated in the infamous, Bandeirantes Operation and was
responsible for the deaths of at least five people.
LAND CONFLICTS
- Rio Maria trial postponed indefinitely
The Rio Maria Committee, a human rights group in Para, have
released a press statement repudiating the court's decision,
which postponed and transferred the trial of the murderers of
rural leader, Expedito Ribeiro de Souza.
The statement reads: "On June 28, 1993, the Justice Tribunal
of Belem, in Para, decided to exonerate the jury in the trial of
the murderers of Expedito Ribeiro de Souza, set for the 30th, and
thus, transferred the trial to Xinguara without fixing a date.
"The request was a maneuver on the part of the accused
landowner to avoid being tried. It was very strange that the
lawyers for the accused, having fought for more than a year to
get the venue for the trial changed from the city of Belem to Rio
Maria, changed their minds just 13 days before the event.
"It was no less strange that the courts in Belem, which
normally take months to make any decision, was so quick to agree
with the accused. The last-minute decision has caused indignation
and perplexity for the hundreds of people, organizations and
entities, both national and international, that were already on
their way to Rio Maria for the trial. The trial was being eagerly
awaited by the people of Rio Maria, and the national and
international communities".
The Rio Maria Committee believe the decision favors the total
impunity of the landowners, and they fear, it will aggravate
violent land conflicts, where the rural workers, as always, are
the ones to suffer most.
They also claim that, "the court system, which was never very
highly esteemed, has now worsened its image". "What good is
democracy", they ask, "when the judicial powers submit to the
landowners? Ethics and citizenship are called into question in
times like these".
Although feeling indignant and upset, the Rio Maria Committee
reaffirm their determination to fight for the condemnation of
Expedito's murderers and put an end to the impunity enjoyed by
the criminal landowners of Para.
- Landless workers ambushed
The Movement of Landless Rural Workers (MST) denounced that on
the night of June 21, a group of rural workers returning from the
town of Mirante do Paranapanema, Sao Paulo, were ambushed by the
grandson of Antonio Sandoval Neto, a land-grabber and sworn enemy
of the movement.
Local police received a call, informing them that some shots
were heard on the Sao Bento estate, near the landless workers'
camp. The police went out to investigate, thinking it was the
rural workers killing cattle belonging to neighboring farmers,
but when they got there, they found there had been an ambush. A
grandson of Antonio Sandoval Neto was found in the area with 5
fire-arms and 150 rounds of ammunition, as well as spent bullets,
which had been used in the ambush.
It is believe that Sandoval's grandson intended to ambush some
of the leaders of the Landless workers movement, who had gone
into the town earlier in the day, but missed his prey.
Luckily, none of the workers were injured, but the MST informs
that although Sandoval's grandson was arrested, he was soon
released after paying bail.
CHURCH
Judgement of Frei Betto marked for July 2, 1993
Because of an article that Frei Betto (Carlos Alberto Libanio
Christo) wrote in the daily newspaper "O Estatdo de Sao Paulo",
criticizing the Military Police of Sao Paulo of violence against children and the poor.
His article was published five months before the massacre of 111
prisioners by the Military Police in a prision in the city of Sao
Paulo. Frei Betto's lawyer is including in his defense articles
written by Dom Paulo Cardinal Everisto Arns, Archbishop of Sao
Paulo and Paulo Sergio Pinheiro, director of the Nuclear of
Studies of Violence of the University of Sao Paulo. Frei Betto
calmly states, "This is not the first time that I will be judged
for defending human rights, in order to fulfill my role as
journalist, christian and religious."
CHILDREN IN BRAZIL
- Military Police responsible for majority of violence against
street children
According to a report made by the Center for the Defense of
the Rights of the Child and Adolescent, Dom Luciano Mendes, the
Military Police are responsible for most of the aggressions
suffered by street children.
Fifty percent of the acts of physical violence against street
children, registered in 1992, were committed by the Military
Police, while the Civil Police were responsible for 5% of the
children's injuries. The other 45% was attributed to shop owners,
security men and criminals.
Cecilia Mendonca, a social assistant with the Center, states
that all the cases of violence were proven. "We take legal action
from the moment the child arrives here with the marks of
aggression, and is medically examined", she explains. "But few of
the cases ever get very far, because the children desist for fear
of reprisals". As the children belong to specific groups in
determined areas of the city, they can be easily located.
The Center is one of the activities in which the Saint Martin
Association is involved. One of the principal objectives of the
Association is to convince public hospitals to offer medical
assistance to the street children.
The reproduction of this material is permitted as long as the source is cited.
NEWS FROM BRAZIL supplied by AGEN (Agencia Ecumenica de Noticias)
and Servico Brasileiro de Justica e Paz.
Number 80, May 21, 1993
LABOR QUESTIONS
- Unemployment in Sao Paulo hits record high.
With an economically active population of 7,991,000 workers,
Sao Paulo registered, in April, a staggering 1,287,000 unemployed
persons, the biggest unemployment rate since 1985. The figures
were compiled by a joint study carried out by the Interunion
Department for Socio-Economic Studies (Dieese) and the State's
Data Analysis System (Seade). The percentage of unemployment in
Sao Paulo, in March was 15.8% and went up to 16,1% in April. The
survey also shows a fall in the buying power of those who are
employed. On average, says the survey, the real buying power of
wages, in April, 93, was only 59.4% of what it was in 1985.
"Another worrying and grave trend", say the experts, "is the fact
that the survey shows that it is the so-called 'heads of
families', that have been hit most". The jobs created are
considered "weak and fragile" as they are mainly in the area of
home-help and youth jobs".
- Standard of life in Brazil worsens.
The specialists were prepared for the worst, but they were
perplexed by the incredible decline in the quality of life, in
Brazil, as evidenced in the recent report from the United Nations
Development Program. Brazil dropped from 59th place to that of
70th, in world terms of standards of living, loosing out to such
countries as, Columbia, Panama and Jamaica and heading from the
"Third" into the "Fourth World".
The UN group evaluated 173 countries and considered such
factors as, education, wealth distribution and life expectancy.
Sociologist, Maria Irene Szmrecsanyi, of the University of Sao
Paulo, said the UN numbers "gives an official tone to the poverty
that is all over the streets", while another sociologist, Ana
Amelia da Silva, of the Institute for Studies, Formation and
Advice for Social Politics, doesn't discount the possibility of
Brazil soon being considered a Forth World country.
- Cardinal Arns and bishops of Sao Paulo denounce State's lack
of concern in health area.
On May 12th, the Cardinal Archbishop of Sao Paulo, d. Evaristo
Arns and his auxiliary bishops sent a letter to the Governor of
Sao Paulo, Luiz Antonio Fleury Filho, to protest against the
government's lack of concern for the disastrous situation of the
State's health system and at the same time, to defend the salary
increases for public employees in this sector, who have been on
strike for the several weeks.
"Our people have been facing a catastrophic situation, for the
last 20 days, because of the strike. The sick are abandoned and
the public health employees disdained. The chaos falls mostly on
the shoulders of the poor and defenseless", says the letter.
"Three years ago", say the bishops, "we asked the people of
Sao Paulo, what the City's biggest problem was. The principal
answer was health, along side the problem of work and housing.
For this reason, we bishops have decided to be spokespeople for
the cry of our people. The lack of concern for public health, on
the part of the State, is evident. We believe the cause of this
degeneration of the health service and society in general, is to
be found in unjust structures. Without a solution for the problem
of inflation, no measures can resolve the question of salaries.
"We are convinced that everybody has the right to health care
and that this is the responsibility of the State". The bishops
point out that the religious-run hospitals, are badly paid by the
government, but still "provide a valuable service to the public
and pay better salaries than the State hospitals".
The letter also mentions that many grassroot movements,
encouraged by Christian communities, managed to get health
centers and hospitals built on the periphery of the city, but
unfortunately are not functioning the way they should.
The letter ends with an appeal to the State authorities, to
"renew negotiations, respond to the cry of the people and review,
with urgency the question of salaries".
- Secretary and treasurer resign in CUT crisis.
In the continuing crisis, which is dividing the leadership of
the county's largest trade union congress, the Unified
Confederation of Workers of Brazil (CUT), the Confederation's
secretary general, Gilmar Carneiro, and its treasurer, Delubio
Soares de Castro, resigned their positions.
The row divides the leadership within the "Articulation" group
of the unions and is a seen as a rehearsal for the dispute for
the presidency of the congress, between Gilmar himself and
Vicente Paulo da Silva (Vincentinho), the current president of
the Metal Workers Union of Sao Bernardo do Campo. The
resignations were announced at meeting of over 100 CUT
unionists, held to discuss the crisis.
In political terms, Vincentinho would be seen to represent the
more leftist thought within the unions, while Gilmar's position
is more in line with the social democrats.
CHURCH QUESTIONS
- Provincial appeals for support for Frei Betto.
The Provincial of the Dominican Order, in Sao Paulo, Frei Luis
Sapiano OP, has sent an appeal, looking for support for one of
the Order's members, Frei Betto, who is being prosecuted, in
court, at the request of the Command of the Military Police,
because of an article he published in the "Estado de Sao Paulo"
newspaper, on the 21st of May of 1992, entitled, "The Season for
Hunting Brazilians".
The article treats the question of the impunity enjoyed, in
Brazil, by those who wantonly kill on the roads, in police
activities, in lynchings and by denying a just salary to their
workers.
The paragraph that provoked the court action is as follows:
"One can also kill with impunity by joining the Military Police
of Sao Paulo, especially the 'Rota battalion'. There one learns
to hate blacks and despise the poor. You're given a uniform, a
gun, a potent squad car, and its just a matter of hunting your
prey.
Two kids talking on a street corner, in the East Zone, could
be a good choice. It's not important if they are bandits or not.
It's enough to say they are. If they are spoiling the city's
scenery, like coming out of a rundown house driving a brand new
car, don't hesitate. Have you ever seen a old, rusty volkswagon
coming out of one of those mansions in Morumbi? So, fire. Ask
questions later...".
The Provincial's letter explains that, "On the 23/05/92, the
Commandant of the Military Police of Sao Paulo, Eduardo
Assumpcao, published a letter in the same newspaper, in response
to the article. In the letter the Colonel assured readers that,
'In the Military Police, violence is punished. Last year, 304
policemen were dismissed and 90 expelled for acts incompatible
with the behavior expected of a military policeman'. In this way,
the Colonel admits that the comments made by Frei Betto have, to
say the least, some foundation.
Accused of the crime of defamation of the Military Corps and
questioned by the police on 17/09/92, frei Betto confirmed he had
written the article, but denied the interpretation that he
intended to defame all the soldiers and officials of the Military
Police Corp. Frei Betto said his intention was to denounce the
abuses and notorious cases of violence, already amply registered
by the news media.
On the 3rd of October, 1992, the news broke that the military
Police of Sao Paulo had suffocated a prisoner's rebellion, on the
previous day, in the Carandiru Detention Center, leaving behind
the tragedy of 111 dead prisoners. Not one policeman was killed
or gravely injured and according to the director of the prison,
no fire-arms were found on the prisoners.
After the massacre, we thought the process against Frei betto
would be dropped. Let it be said that not one military policeman
involved in the massacre was, so far, considered to blame or
punished. The governor of Sao Paulo, Luiz Antonio Fleury Filho,
limited himself to dismissing the Secretary for Security and
substituting the commander of the MP".
Frei Betto is due to give evidence in the Forum in Sao Paulo,
on May 21, while the trial is set for 2/07/93.
The Provincial, Frei Luis, ends his letter by stating that "We
are not worried, as such, about the process being brought against
frei Betto. It's the impunity of police abuses and the
possibility of this continued and open disrespect for human
rights, that is most worrying.
In this sense, we suggest that those who feel solidarity with
our confrere, should protest directly to:
the Governor of Sao Paulo, Luiz Antonio Fleury Filho,
Palacio dos Bandeirantes,
CEP 05698-900,
Sao Paulo, SP,
Fax: (011) 843.9271
and to the Minister for Justice, Mauricio Correa,
Ministerio da Justica,
Esplanada dos Ministerios,
CEP 70000 Brasilia, DF,
Fax (061) 321.5145".
- CNBB appeal for ethical values.
In an official note, drawn up at their Annual National
Conference, which ended on May 7th, the Catholic Bishops of
Brazil address the question of ethics and mass communication.
Specifically referring to television, the bishops express
great concern about the amount of violence, obscenities, and
immoral behavior portrayed on Brazilian TV networks. They also
complain about the lack of educational and cultural programs,
including the inadequate and unsatisfactory way in which the
great social questions of poverty and misery, that afflict the
vast majority, are treated in the media, "while the good life,
based on pleasure and power, is put forward as the ideal".
"News items", they say, "are, all too often, elaborated in
such a way as to propagate crime, information is manipulated to
serve the interests of individuals and groups and the religious
sentiments of the population are very often exploited".
The note from the Church leaders insists that they realize
that this subject does not only concern the catholic population,
but the whole nation and that there is no wish to return to
censorship, be it artistic, literary or political, but proposes
that the TV channels, "have absolute respect for the norms
expressed in the Constitution, that is, with regard to the
finality of the mass media to inform truthfully, objectively and
completely, and to provide educational and cultural programs and
healthy leisure".
As well as appealing to those involved in television, the
Bishops also request the National Congress to implement Article
224 of the Constitution, which demands that a Council for Social
Communication be instituted.
- Catholic foundation plan to launch national TV network in
September.
The Brazilian Institution for Christian Communication (INBRAC)
is planning the launching of a national TV network for September,
1993. The INBRAC foundation, founded in December of last year, is
made up of bishops , priests and lay people, including the
President of the National conference of Bishops of Brazil (CNBB),
d. Luciano Mendes de Almeida.
The TV Network will be transmitted from the city of Sao Jose
do Rio Preto, in the interior of the State of Sao Paulo, where
the studios and technical installations are being built. A Sao
Paulo businessman, Joao Monteiro de Barros Filho, has put the
concession he received from the Federal government in 1990, to
set up a TV channel, at the disposal of the Catholic church. A TV
satellite will be rented to transmit programs on a national
basis.
Initially, TV channel will transmit programs produced by the
Catholic organizations that make videos, such as those of the
Salesians, in Belo Horizonte and Irmas Paulinas, in Sao Paulo.
The Catholic church already has a national radio network
service, transmitted from Radio Aparecida, via satellite,
IgrejaSat and located in the Valley of Paraiba, Sao Paulo. Radio
Aparecida is the biggest Catholic radio station in Latin America
and one of the most important in the world.
According to Monteiro de Barros, the foundation already has
the support of over 100 local TV stations, in the State of Sao
Paulo alone. The foundation will also try to get time on the
other national networks, especially the so-called, educational
channels.
The initial out-lay for the INBRAC project is something the
region of US$ 40 million, which it is hoped will be covered by
donations from national and international, Catholic
organizations.
Commenting on this new initiative from the church, d. Ivo
Lorscheiter, bishop of Santa Maria, Rio Grande do Sul, told AGEN
that, "the network will not be the CNBB's TV channel but rather a
project comprising of Catholics, the clergy, religious and lay
people". He said that the Church was "becoming more and more
aware of its missionary responsibility in view of the great
challenge presented by the world of social communication".
D. Lorscheiter also added that at the San Domingos meeting of
the Latin American bishops, "social communication was seen as one
of the priorities for the Church in Latin America".
LAND ISSUES
- Man who planned Fonteles murder condemned.
James Vita Lopes, 45, the lawyer who planned the murder of ex-
State deputy, Paulo Fonteles de Lima, in 1987, was condemned to
21 years imprisonment, on the 15th of May.
Lopes, an ex-agent of the repressive forces during the
military dictatorship, went on trial in the municipality of
Ananindeusa, in the metropolitan region of Belem, in Para, for
the second time, as he had appealed the first sentence, in which
he also got 21 years.
Fonteles, a lawyer, was well known for his work in defending
those engaged in the struggle for agrarian reform and also
belonged to the Communist Party of Brazil (PC do B). The people
who ordered the crime haven't been punished and the gunmen who
carried out the murder are missing (it's presumed they were
executed to make sure they would not reveal anything, in a
practice known here in Brazil as "queima do arquivo" - literally
"burning the files").
After he left the service of the repressive forces, Lopes
worked as contract man to hire gunmen for the Democratic Rural
Union (UDR), the principal organization of the wealthy Brazilian
landowners.
- CUT denounce aggression against rural workers.
Fourteen rural workers were injured with bullets and batons,
by the Military Police of Para, on the 14th of May, when they
tried to enter the central headquarters of the Amazonia Bank
(BASA).
The accusation was made by the National Department for Rural
Workers of the Unified Confederation of Workers of Brazil (CUT).
The workers were trying to make an agreement on the so-called
"Constitutional Grants for the North". Eight of the rural workers
were hospitalized, one of them in a serious condition.
CUT suggest that messages of protest against this violence be
sent to:
the Minister for Justice, Mauricio Correa,
Fax: (061). 224.2448).
- Slave labor denounced in Amazon area.
The National Conference of Bishops of Brazil (CNBB), through
its Center for the Defense of Human Rights (CDDH) and the
Pastoral Commission for Land (CPT) has just denounced the
practice of slave labor in the Amazon.
Representatives of these entities went to the municipality of
Presidente Figueiredo, in the interior of the Amazon, after the
Federal Police of Paraiba revealed the case. The rural workers
were contracted by the Pororoca Agroindustrial Company and by
Doboa. They told the Human Rights groups that they had been flown
into Manaus on a Vasp flight, from Joao Pessoa (in Paraiba), two
weeks previously and had been taken to President Figueiredo by
bus. They had given their documents to a man called "Chicao" and
hadn't seen them since. They had been promised a wage of Cr$ 12
million per month (about US$ 300), after expenses were taken out.
The CDDH and the CPT denounced that the workers are required
to cut five tons of sugar cane per day. One of the workers said
that it was impossible to reach this quota. When they don't, the
company discounts 10% of the first day's salary, 15% on the
second day, 20% on the third, and so on. When the discount
reaches 30%, the worker is thrown off the plantation, with
nothing, not even his fare back home. As well as this, Cr$ 1
million is taken from the workers wage, for receiving one meal a
day.
The use of the sleeping quarters and even the tools, used to
cut the cane, are also discounted. The sugar cane workers get Cr$
35 thousand (less than US$ 1) for every 5 tons of cane they cut.
There is no medical assistance, whatsoever, and there is also
reason to believe that several workers are gone missing. They are
said to have tried to walk back to Manaus, and disappeared in the
forest.
POLITICAL QUESTIONS
- Manifesto reveals interventionist attude of military.
The Brazilian military's dissatisfaction with the Federal
government, politicians and the general state of the country's
socio-economic crisis is the background for a manifesto entitled,
"The Armed Forces - the Last Bulwark", which Brigadier Lieutenant
Ivan Moacyr da Frota, General Air Commander, recently published
in the Naval Air Force magazine, "Revista da Aeronautica" and
reproduced in the Army's "Revista do Clube Militar" and the "O
Estado de Sao Paulo" newspaper.
Throughout the article, a new and explicit, interventionist
attitude is revealed on the part of the military in the political
area, after the relatively quiet and reserved posture they
adopted, during the recent democratic transition, from almost 30
years of military rule.
The article, published after long consultations between
military chiefs, adopts a messianic tone when talking about the
role of the Armed forces as "the last bulwark" for Brazil's
survival as a free and independent Nation. Some political
analysts see the manifesto as a sign of a possible
"fujimorization" of the Brazilian political system, leading to an
eventual civil coup, with military approval, as happened in Peru,
under the leadership of the dictator-president, Alberto Fujimori.
Frota's manifesto, however states that "the era of the
barracks and military coups is over", and adds that "With our
legal formation, this type of force is not acceptable".
Nonetheless, just after that he states that "the time has come
for the great silent majority of this nation to make themselves
heard, at this dramatic moment, and with determination and
firmness, to demand that the Brazilian Armed Forces take their
proper place of importance and consideration".
In the manifesto, the Commander, who is only second in
authority to the Minister himself, sustains a series of
arguments:
1. The Armed Forces are being attacked, by internal and
foreign enemies, who are systematically trying to destabilize
them;
2. This strategy interests the rich countries (the Big 7), who
divide the planet into "First and Secondary Nations", "where the
latter are condemned to permanent under-development, so that they
don't develop as a competitive threat in the international
economic scenario". According to Frota, this "philosophy" of a
North/South conflict has taken the place of the "extinct
East/West" one;
3. This campaign has the support of sections of the
"misguided" or "corrupted" media, both within and outside the
country and also of some politicians;
4. Another expression of this campaign is the reduction of the
military budget, resulting in bad salaries, cuts in military
training and obsolete weapons. The Brazilian weapon industry is
also in ruins because of international pressure, in favor of arms
production in the rich countries;
5. This strategy could soon affect the Amazon area, under the
pretext of drug control, ecology and protection for the rights of
indigenous people;
6. The "silent majority" in Brazil are dissatisfied with all
of this and "the terrible economic inequalities", allied to
corruption;
7. The internal separatists movements constitute "another most
serious threat to be faced with determination and firmness" and
are also controlled from "outside'.
In the media, officials from the armed forces have shown their
approval of the manifesto. Yesterday, in parliament, one of the
Federal Deputies (of the PDC party), Jair Bolsonaro, ex-army
officer and unofficial spokesperson for the lower army officials,
defended the idea of closing down the National Congress, for six
months, until general elections are held and also the revoking of
the National Constitution promulgated in October, 1988.
- Meeting of leaders of the Iberian-American countries.
Preparations are well under way for the Conference of the
Leaders of the Iberian-American countries, to be held in
Salvador, Bahia, in June. The heads of State of the Latin
American and Caribbean countries, as well as the presidents of
Spain and Portugal are expected to attend.
A parallel meeting, promoted by the Continental Resistance
Movement for the Black, Indigenous and Rural Communities, is
being organized, to coincide with the event. The NGO organizers
of this parallel meeting hope to call attention to certain themes
of vital interest to the Third World, such as the foreign debt
and the disastrous effects of neo-liberal economic policies being
imposed on these countries.
The agenda for the official meeting will deal with cooperation
between the various countries involved, the new world geo-
political order and the problem of narcotics. Another question,
which the meeting will undoubtably have to face, is that of the
new restrictions Spain and Portugal are making for Latin American
and Caribbean visitors. Even with the strong protests made by
Brazil and other Latin American countries and apart from the fact
that tourism in Spain and Portugal is suffering, the authorities
there, seem to remain insensible to the problem.
HUMAN RIGHTS ISSUES
- Parliament approves project concerning police crimes.
A report from Marcelo Godoy of the "Folha da Tarde" newspaper,
says that the Parliament in Brasilia has just approved a bill
that will give the civil courts jurisdiction to judge any wilful
homicides committed, while on duty, by military police. Up to
now, these crimes were exclusively dealt with by Military
Justice. The bill will now go to the Senate and if approved, will
only need the presidential sanction to become law.
Crimes committed by military policemen, off duty, but using
weapons belonging to the military, will also go to civil courts.
However, the crimes of manslaughter, robbery, torture and
bribery, will continue to be reserved to the Military courts.
Helio Bicudo, a federal deputy with the Worker's Party, who
has been working for a long time for a change in the laws
governing crimes committed by the military police, remained
dissatisfied with the bill. "Our intention", he said, "is to have
all crimes committed by the military against civilians, tried by
civil courts".
According to Bicudo, the military Courts have already
demonstrated that they are not impartial. Marcio Thomaz Bastos, a
lawyer, said that he considers the project to be good news. "At
this time, in which there's a huge increase in police violence,
it is fundamental that these crimes are not tried by a tribunal,
like the Military Court, that has shown itself to be partial".
The reproduction of this material is permitted as long as the source is cited.
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