Brasília - Four street dwellers, among the ten who were victims of beatings that occurred yesterday (19) in the center of the city of São Paulo in the predawn hours, have already died.

The attack on the street people was discovered gradually as the day progressed, as it became clearer to authorities that the cases were not isolated incidents. The Homicide and Personal Protection Department (DHPP) of the State Secretariat of Public Safety declared this morning that it will not release more detailed information, in order not to interfere with the investigations.

The attack was the biggest act of violence ever committed against street dwellers in the capital of São Paulo, as well as the biggest in the country since the Candelária Massacre, in Rio de Janeiro, on July 23, 1993, when eight homeless people were killed. "We are feeling the sadness and the indignation," affirmed Father Júlio Lancellotti, director of the Catholic Church's Street Pastoral Commission.

Father Lancellotti is accompanying the DHPP in its investigation to reveal the authors of the crimes. He requested the intervention of the Public Interest Defense Ministry in the case and informed that secrecy is being maintained in order to protect the witnesses.

A 2003 study by the Economic Research Institute Foundation (Fipe) shows that over ten thousand people in São Paulo sleep in the city's streets, squares, underpasses, thoroughfares, cemeteries, and shelters. The study was conducted at the request of the São Paulo Municipal Government's Secretariat of Social Assistance.

Agência Brasil
Reporter: Paulo Montoia
Translator: David Silberstein
08/20/2004