Brasília - The Human Rights in Brazil, 2004, Report, published by the non-governmental organization Social Network of Justice and Human Rights, attributes the predominance of poverty and the advance of social disintegration in the country to the "nearly 25 years of stagnation in per capita income," the ascendancy of "neo-liberal type policies" in the last decade, and the "irresponsible attachment to short-term international capital," according to Márcio Pochmann, professor at the State University of Campinas (Unicamp) and São Paulo municipal secretary of Development and Solidarity. Pochmann was one of the nearly 30 specialists who prepared the 37 articles in the report.

Launched in São Paulo on December 2, the document contains data and analyses referring to human rights in Brazil over the course of recent years, especially in relation to 2004. The report, which was drafted by the Social Network with the collaboration of approximately 30 other institutions and social movements, discusses issues such as slave-like labor, income concentration, the lack of access to rights like decent housing and water, and the situation of indigenous peoples, communities of descendants of runaway slaves, and populations affected by dam construction. The document also deals with the question of cases of police torture and abuse, as well as impunity.

With respect to the countryside, one of the concerns raised by the specialists who drafted the report concerns the situation of landless rural workers, as well as the increase in the number of land occupations compared with last year. Another noteworthy point is that in the states where agribusiness has expanded, this has been accompanied by "the growth of private violence and repressive action by the judiciary."

The conclusions will be presented to the federal government. In the second fortnight of January, an English version will be forwarded to international institutions, such as the United Nations and the Organization of American States, and it will also be publicized by the Social Network of Justice and Human Rights at the 5th World Social Forum, which will be held in Porto Alegre from January 26-31.

Besides publishing annual reports on human rights and submitting cases of human rights violations to national and international organs, the Social Network also promotes campaigns against impunity, training activities about legal tools, and activities to propagate the defense of human rights, among other projects.

Agência Brasil
Reporter: Juliana Andrade
Translator: David Silberstein
12/08/2004