Agência Brasil

São Paulo - Members of human rights organizations met yesterday (15) with the special United Nations (UN) representative, Hina Jilani, to denounce acts of aggression and intimidation practiced by the government of the state of São Paulo. One of the chief topics discussed at the meeting was state government Order nº 91/2005, issued in September, prohibiting human rights activists from entering units of the State Juvenile Welfare Foundation (Febem) throughout the state.

Jilani has been in Brazil since December 5 to evaluate the situation of human rights activists. She has already traveled to Brasília, Pará, Pernambuco, and Bahia. Her next stop is Santa Catarina, after which she will return to Brasília. Once her visits are over, she will prepare a report identifying the major issues, problems, and difficulties faced by human rights workers in their endeavors.

The purpose of the report will be to alert the government to the violations committed against the activists and to provide guidelines about what needs to be done to change the situation. "In the report I will say what needs to be done to ensure the security of human rights activists, and I will make recommendations for the government to take concrete steps along these lines," she informed.

Jilani was unwilling to reveal what most impressed her in the state of São Paulo on the grounds that she is still gathering information. "I will only discuss these matters after ample talks with government officials and civil society." She is expected to present details of her analyses, her impressions, and her report in a collective interview planned for December 20, when she ends her visit to Brazil.

Conceição Paganelle, president of the Association of Mothers and Friends of At-Risk Children and Adolescents (Amar), commonly known as the Febem Mothers, told the UN representative about the threats she has been receiving since the beginning of the year. "I have received death threats, as well as some attempts. They tried to run me over three times, and they have pursued me to the door of my house. I have received several death threats over the phone," Paganelle said.

She stated that the state government accuses her of being the instigator of the rebellions in the Febem. "The president of the Febem herself says that I am the instigator of the rebellions." According to Paganelle, this is another way the state government has found to discourage and demoralize defenders of human rights, especially the Amar. "We are seeking support. And we already have a lot of national support, and the UN rapporteur, aware of this, came to the Amar to talk to us," she added.

Paganelle said that what the Amar hopes from Jilani's visit is that the São Paulo government will be exposed. "The state government has already been condemned in the Inter-American Human Rights Court, and now, once again, it will be exposed in an international report for its violation of and lack of respect for defenders of human rights," she concluded.

Translation: David Silberstein