Rio, September 15, 2003 (Agência Brasil - ABr) - Around 40 thousand people, according to estimates made by the Military Police, took part in the Brazil Disarmed march, sponsored by the Live Rio Movement, this Sunday, in Copacabana, in the south zone of the city. The event was attended by federal, state, and municipal government authorities, as well as entrepreneurs, actors, and workers. The state secretary of Public Safety, Anthony Garotinho, who was booed when he appeared on Atlantic Avenue, was protected by human chain to isolate him from the crowd, but he denied that he was the target of the crowd's protests.
Just as in a samba school parade, the march was divided into sections. One of the most moving included relatives and friends of the Chinese shopkeeper, Chan Kim Chang, who died as a result of what is suspected to have been torture practiced by prison guards in the Ari Franco Penitenciary, where he was imprisoned when he tried to travel to the United States carrying around US$ 30 thousand, which he didn't report to the Federal Revenue Agency and which he said he had received from the sale of a luncheonette. His relatives and friends carried posters with photographs of Chang, insisting on "Torture, Never More."
The Minister of Justice, Márcio Thomaz Bastos, is convinced that the march will help accelerate the process of approving the disarmament project. He observed, however, that a secure Brazil, the way the population desires, will only be possible when the disarmament statute takes force and is really put into effect. He warned, however, that people shouldn't nurture the illusion that the simple promulgation of the project will lead to Paradise. "It is necessary to implant it and create a register that is real and concrete, giving us a real chance to be able to monitor things," he affirmed. The Minister called for the approval of the Ministry of Justice's original project, a balanced proposal when it comes to penalties and the means to prohibit the possession and regulate the bearing of arms.
The President of the Chamber of Deputies, João Paulo Cunha, agreed that the Brazil Disarmed movement will have a major impact on the disarmament project. He underlined that, once it is approved, the law can help disarm society and reduce violence and insecurity in the country, through the implantation of more rigorous controls. He hopes to present the report on the proposal on the Chamber floor by September 30. Conditions are favorable for passage of the law, he assured, asserting that the interests of society will prevail in Congress over the arms lobby. (DAS)
