Three defenders of workers rights murdered!
| Publisher | International Federation for Human Rights |
| Publication Date | 30 January 2004 |
| Cite as | International Federation for Human Rights, Three defenders of workers rights murdered!, 30 January 2004, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/482c5bdb23.html [accessed 27 May 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
30/01/2004
The Observatory for the protection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint programme of the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and the World Organization Against Torture (OMCT) expresses its deepest concern about the assassination of Erastótenes de Almeida Gonçalves, Nelson José da Silva and João Batista Soares Lages, three lawyers of the Brazilian Ministry of Labour, in Unaí, Minas Gerais (Brazil).
On 28 January, 2004, unknown individuals driving a Fiat Strada shot Erastótenes de Almeida Gonçalves, Nelson José da Silva and João Batista Soares Lages in the head while they were driving to the property of a landowner in the State of Minas Gerais, to investigate a case of slavery. Aílton Pereira de Oliveira, the driver, was found severely wound and died later the same day at a hospital in Brasilia.
The Observatory has reasons to believe that the three lawyers were murdered in connection with their work defending workers rights in Brazil. These lawyers had allegedly been threatened as a consequence of their work in the past. Slave labour is still common in the State of Minas Gerais, Brazil, where most of the violence is generated by conflicts over land. In 2003, 4,852 workers under conditions of slavery were able to escape their condition thanks to the work of the Ministry of Labour.
The Observatory urges the Brazilian authorities to comply with their international obligations. In particular, the Observatory urges them to:
- 1. Conduct a fair, impartial and independent inquiry about these crimes, in order to identify the authors, bring them to justice and pronounce sentences proportional to the gravity of their crimes;
- 2. Adopt immediate measures to put an end to all acts of violence against human rights defenders;
- 3.Conform with the provisions of the Declaration on Human Rights defenders, adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on December 9, 1998, in particular its article 12.2 which states that "the State shall take all necessary measures to ensure the protection by the competent authorities of everyone, individually and in association with others, against any violence, threats, retaliation, de facto or de jure adverse discrimination, pressure or any other arbitrary action as a consequence of his or her legitimate exercise of the rights referred to in the present Declaration ";
- 4. Conform with the international and regional human rights instruments ratified by Brazil.
