Brasília, April 29, 2003 (Agência Brasil - ABr) - The inter-ministerial commission to combat rural violence created a mobile group to act on two fronts, informed the federal agrarian auditor and president of the commission, Gercino da Silva. The first front will act to prevent conflicts, and the second, to guarantee the human and social rights of all the parties involved. "The group will guarantee the security of rural laborers, Indians, members of communities comprising descendants of runaway slaves, and landowners, when they are victims of unjust or illegal acts," he emphasized.

Pará will be the first state the group will visit. According to the auditor, it is the state with the largest number of armed conflicts and related assassinations, the largest number of pending instances of properties to be restored to their original owners, and a series of court-ordered arrest warrants that the police are unable to carry out.

The auditor added that another cause of rural violence is the illegal extraction of wood. He explained that lumber companies invade public areas and occupy the land illegally, causing harm to the environment and evicting the small leaseholders who are the legitimate proprietors. (DAS)