Brasília, May 27, 2004 (Agência Brasil) - Minister Nilmário Miranda, of the Special Secretariat for Human Rights, declared in an official note released today that there is a growing number of court convictions, trials, and investigations involving police and government officials accused of committing the crime of torture. "There are currently 240 people convicted by lower courts in Brazil of crimes of torture," he informed. In his opinion this is already an indication that the Brazilian judicial system is not unresponsive to the phenomen.

The note was a response to a report issued in London by Amnesty International (AI), condemning the existence of torture, assassinations committed by police, and violence against rural workers and Indians in Brazil.

The Minister admitted there is still a long way to go, but he argues that significant progress has been made in recent years. "The federalization of crimes against human rights, a measure in the Judicial Reform that gives federal courts jurisdiction to try and judge crimes against human rights, is already a victory," he said. Another important item, in his opinion, is the homologation (final approval) of 82% of Indian territories in Brazil over the years. "In the year and a half since this Administration took office, 33 territories were homologated," he recalled.

Another measure that the federal government plans to adopt by 2006, through the Special Secretariat for Human Rights, is the Police Auditors program, in partnership with the European Community, which will contribute US$ 6.35 million (R$ 20 million) to the project. The Auditors Offices are available for citizens to denounce crimes. The purpose of the project is the perfection of external mechanisms to control police violence by strengthening and disseminating the work done by Auditors Offices throughout Brazil.

Amnesty International considers the Disarmament Statute edited by the government to control the possession and sale of small arms a first step in the campaign against violence.

Reporter: Luciana Vasconcelos
Translator: David Silberstein