Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders Annual Report 2002 - Brazil

Arrest of a leader of the landless workers movement (MST)²⁵

On 5th September 2002 Mr. José Rainha, President of the Landless Rural Workers Movement (MST) of the Pontal region of Paranapanema, was arrested in the Teodoro Sampaio Municipality, on the basis of a preventive arrest warrant issued on 23rd May 2002 by the Ministry of Justice of the Municipality of Teodoro Sampaio for "attempt to form guerrilla groups liable to promote a rebellion in the region" (Art. 288 of the Penal Code). He was moved to the Teodoro Sampaio prison by decision of the Judge Athis Araujo de Oliveira.

On 12th November, by unanimous decision, the Higher Court of Justice decided to release Mr. Rainha. The Minister, Felix Fischer, indicated that the charges against Mr. Rainha were not sufficient to warrant his continued detention.

In the past, Mr. Rainha had already been taken to court due to his involvement on behalf of the Landless. In July 1997 he was sentenced to 26 years' imprisonment, charged with the assassination of a landowner and of a member of the police in the State of Espirito Santo. After a trial that lasted for nearly three years, he was acquitted on 5th April 2000.²⁶

The situation of human rights defenders in the state of Espirito Santo²⁷

Because of the many serious violations of human rights, organised crime and wide-spread impunity in the State of Espirito Santo, denounced for many years by human rights organisations, both within Brazil and elsewhere, and given the constant deterioration of the human rights situation, the Brazilian Bar Association, along with other representatives of civil society, called for federal intervention in May 2002. The aim of such federal intervention was to stabilise the situation created mainly by the activities of Scudiere Detetive Le Coq (SDLC), responsible for the assassination of street children, extortion and corruption, and which nevertheless is still a recognised organisation in Brazil. The Council for the Defence of the Human Person (CDDPH), a government body under the Federal Ministry of Justice, following a report recognising the systematic violation of human rights and constitutional guarantees in the State concerned, submitted a request to the Federal Supreme Court. On 8th July 2002 President Fernando Henrique Cardoso announced that the request to intervene would be rejected, even if it were approved by the Supreme Court. This provoked an institutional crisis within the Federal Government, and the resignation of the Minister of Justice. The new Minister of Justice announced on 12th July 2002 that instead of a federal intervention a special group would be set up to be sent to the State of Espirito Santo for 90 days with the task of investigating the organised delinquency and ensuring the protection of persons under threat. On 25th July, with the support of the Observatory and other organisations, the Centre for Global Justice published a report on the threats, intimidation and institutional pressure that human rights defenders are subjected to in the State of Espirito Santo, the aim being to contribute to the work of the CDDPH, and solicited a federal intervention.

The report describes in detail the methods of intimidation employed during 2002 against the judiciary, members of the police and members of political parties, both on the part of outside elements and of the institutions themselves. For instance, from December 1999 and March 2002, Jean Claude Gomez de Oliveira, public prosecutor, received threats relating to complaints he had lodged against members of the judiciary and organised crime. The report emphasises the total impunity enjoyed by the authors. For example in January 2001, a Secretariat for Human Rights was established in the Sierra Municipality. During the year 322 homicides were recorded. On 25th January 2002 the offices of the Secretariat were ransacked and the documents in the director's office were searched, although no object of value was taken. The Secretariat repeatedly asked for the report of the military police on the event, and on 22nd May 2002 was informed that it had been mislaid.

Among those recorded in the report, the two following cases are representative of the challenge human rights defenders have to face in a context of generalised violence, and of the means and support available to the authors of threats, who act with total impunity.

Threats against the President of the Brazilian Bar Association, Espirito Santo Section (OAB)

In 1999 several organisations, including OAB, set up the "Fight Back Espirito Santo" Forum to combat violence and organised crime. Since then, Mr. Agesandro da Costa Pereira, President of the OAB, has received constant telephone threats warning him not to meddle with the affairs of Scudiere Detetive Le Coq. The threats had somewhat died down since March 2001, but were renewed with added vigour following the assassination of a barrister, Marcelo Denada, on 15th April 2002. Between mid-April and the end of June, Mr. da Costa Pereira apparently received four telephone calls and two threatening letters. Two days after taking part in the meeting organised by the CDDPH in Brasilia on 24th April 2002, where the situation in the State of Epirito Santo was discussed, his home was broken into, and he found a hand-written letter warning him that the whereabouts of his wife and small girl were known. Ten days later, a threatening letter containing disturbing details concerning his private life, his family and his professional colleagues reached him at the OAB office. On 9th July 2002 the OAB office received another anonymous threatening call.

And then on 25th July 2002, a bomb exploded on the premises of the Law School at Vitona, the capital of the State of Espirito Santo, during the celebrations in honour of the arrival of new members. Mr. da Costa Pereira and 130 other lawyers and officials were in the building at the time.

Threats against the President of the Association of Mothers and Families of Victims of Violence in Espirito Santo

Since the assassination of her son by the military police in June 1999, Mrs. Maria Graças Nascimento Nacort has received threats because she expressed displeasure at the lack of progress in the investigation. In particular, she received threats from a policeman, Erivelto, who is still at large, despite the fact that the police report on the assassination raised the question of his responsibility.

Two years after the assassination, Mrs. Graças Nascimento Nacort founded the Association of Mothers and Families of Victims of Violence in Espirito Santo (AMAFAVV-ES), and the threats have continued, against herself and her family.

For example, on 8th March 2002, when she was organising a women's event in Vitoria to commemorate international women's day, a car approached her and the driver addressed her with threats.

On 5th June, a lawyer, Nelson Aguiar, close to the Governor of the State, threatened her publicly during an interview on CBN radio.

The authorities have taken no steps to protect the life of Mrs. Graça Nascimento Nacort.

[Refworld note: This report as posted on the FIDH website (www.fidh.org) was in pdf format with country chapters run together by region. Footnote numbers have been retained here, so do not necessarily begin at 1.]

25. See Urgent appeal BRA 001/0902/OBS 056.

26. See 2000 Annual Report.

27. See report "Crise de direitos humanos no Espirito Santo: amenaças e violència contra os defensores de direitos humanos", Centro Justiça Global, October 2002.