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| There are serious issues in regard to abuses of '''human rights in Brazil'''. ] had a remarkably poor record during the ] of the ], and still has many problems today. These include the use of ], ], ] and ]s by civil and military police and prison authorities. In the recent years, the ] ] is considered the major violation of the human rights in Brazil. | There are serious issues in regard to abuses of '''human rights in Brazil'''. ] had a remarkably poor record during the ] of the ], and still has many problems today. These include the use of ], ], ] and ]s by civil and military police and prison authorities. In the recent years, the ] ] is considered the major violation of the human rights in Brazil. | ||
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There are serious issues in regard to abuses of human rights in Brazil. Brazil had a remarkably poor record during the dictatorship of the 1960s, and still has many problems today. These include the use of police brutality, corruption, torture and summary executions by civil and military police and prison authorities. In the recent years, the 1992 Carandiru Massacre is considered the major violation of the human rights in Brazil.
Prisoner violence
Brazil’s prisons are overcrowded and unhealthy, there are now over 300,000 inmates. Beatings, torture and killings by prison guards occur throughout the prison system. Children are abused in the juvenile justice system. According to the Ministry of Justice 13,489 under 18s are in detention. Prison overcrowding results in a prominent occurrence of prison violence and murder as well as frequent revolts and escapes. In order to deal with these problems, prison administrations often divide prison populations according to gang affiliation. According to Global Justice, there have been claims of gang affiliation being assigned. Living space, food, and cleanliness conditions are inhumane and bribery for privileges and transfers is rampant.
Summary executions and police violence
Police violence is one of the most internationally recognized human rights abuses in Brazil. The problem of urban violence focuses on the perpetual struggle between police and residents of high crime favelas such as the areas portrayed in City of God. Police response in many parts of Brazil is extremely violent, including summary execution and torture of suspects. According to Global Justice, in 2003, the police killed 1,195 people in the State of Rio de Janeiro alone. In the same year 45 police officers were killed. Police violence is often reacted to by local communities and trafficking groups with demonstrations and violent resistance, causing escalation and multiplying victims. Unofficial estimates show there are over 3000 deaths annually from police violence in Brazil, according to Human Rights Watch. There are constant complaints of racism, abuses, torture, executions and disappearances. Not all states record police killings or keep accurate statistics.
Torture
Torture in Brazil is widespread and systematic according to the ex-UN Special Rapporteur. Occurrence of police torture accompanies murder or effecting intimidation and extortion. Torture has also been widely reported in detention centers and mental institutions.
Agrarian violence and oppression
The agrarian struggle in Brazil is manifold, touching on the topics of deforestation, dam building, eviction, squatting, and wildlife smuggling. The enormous Landless Workers' Movement in Brazil involves large and migrating homeless populations. Landowners resort to assassins and death squads to drive and intimidate landless populations from their land. Other cases of agrarian human rights violations involve government takings, such as for various hydroelectric opporations across Brazil. Wealthy international corporations have enormous bargaining power and often refuse to remunerate displaced populations upon the flooding of their ancestral homes. Further agrarian violence arises from smugglers of exotic animals, wood, and other minerals from extracting contraband from forest or agrarian areas.
Slave Labor and Labor Exploitation
Slavery and labor situations like depression era company towns still exist in remote areas in Brazil. A fictional portrayal of such a town occurs in The Rundown.
Racism
Brazil’s legacy as the largest slave importer in the Americas has yielded both a varied population and a quiet but very prevalent racism. Skin color and poverty are widely associated, and opportunities are extended more readily to whites. Brazilian racism has recently begun to be combated by tentative affirmative action attempts.
Domestic violence
Brazil has a sad record of domestic violence, both against children and women. The main causes of domestic violence are agreed to be alcohol addiction or drug use, but low literacy, social tension and poverty also play an important role in it.
Indigenous violence
As deforestation companies move in to take advantage of the large area of space the Amazon offers, indigenous tribes that live in the forest are attacked or subject to violence. Drugs and diseases are introduced into the tribes because of the people moving in on the terrain. In order to protect the land that is rightly theirs, many indigenous people attack the new arrivals - who fight back - which leads to violence and deaths.
Impunity
In line with the military government’s negotiated impunity upon the return of Brazil to democracy, impunity continues to derail human rights prosecution. Police and prison violence is often covered up or ignored by authorities. Police officers who are imprisoned often serve in privileged security positions inside Brazilian prisons. Brazilian politics are also rife with impunity, continued through dismissal of overzealous officials and pointed bureaucratic oversight.
Violence against human rights defenders
Many human rights defenders who have arisen to oppose human rights violations and their families and friends suffer violence, persecution, and terrorism across Brazil. Telephone death threats are prominent and often followed through by ambush or assassination. Government officials, attorneys, union leaders and even religious leaders have often been targeted. The danger of human rights defense recently entered the world press with the murder of Dorothy Stang.
Sources: Human Rights Watch, Global Justice, Pastoral Land Commission
- Brazilink Human Rights & Justice
- Global Justice
- Human Rights Watch
- Amnesty International
- International Freedom of Expression Exchange
See also
Further reading
- Zimbardo, et al. Violence Workers
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