In addition to contributing to the promotion of a society in which basic rights are respected and guaranteed, human rights defenders play an essential role in the strengthening of democracy, the rule of law, and the judicial system. As a result of this work, they are an irritant and pose a challenge to the political and economic powers responsible for human rights violations. Consequently, defenders are subject to a wide range of human rights violations.
Threats towards human rights defenders in Brazil are not restricted to those fighting for civil and political rights; all those who defend and promote economic, social, cultural, and environmental rights are at risk as well. This was the conclusion of the first comprehensive study on human rights defenders carried out in Brazil in 2001 entitled:
Frontline: Human Rights Defenders in Brazil, 1997-2001.1 Through the documentation and analysis of 57 emblematic crimes against human rights defenders working in different regions of Brazil, that first research demonstrated that in more that 80% of the cases (out of a total of 46 cases) there was virtually no progress made in the investigation of crimes committed against these activists or bringing to trial those responsible for the violations.
Three years have passed since that first publication, and to mark the visit to Brazil of Ms. Hina Jilani, Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General on the Situation of Human Rights Defenders, Justiça Global and Terra de Direitos (two Brazilian nongovernmental human rights organizations) researched, analyzed, and recorded updated information in the present second national report, exposing the continual threats, persecution, criminalization, and murders to which human rights defenders are still
subjected.
This report documents and denounces the Brazilian government’s slowness, incompetence, and inefficiency in dealing with the issue. In fact, the Brazilian government has not provided an adequate security structure for human rights defenders and does not manage, or in many cases simply is not willing, to protect them when they are at risk.

The cases presented herein are only a handful of the many that threaten the defense of human rights in Brazil. However, they serve to more than adequately illustrate the seriousness of the situation, and illustrate the historic pattern of violence against human rights defenders and the impunity the perpetrators enjoy. Many more cases of at-risk defenders could have been included in this report, which itself reflects the risks to which the defenders are continually exposed.
It is our hope that this report will serve as an instrument for the monitoring of such an important issue, that it will contribute to a greater awareness of the issue on behalf of the Brazilian government, general public, civil society, and international community, and help move the Brazilian government towards the development and enforce of public policies that protect and promote the work of human rights defenders.

Inhalt

Introduction ……………………………………………………………………………………………. 17
1. International Instruments for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders and
the Mobilization of Civil Society ……………………………………………………………. 19
1.1 THE LATIN-AMERICAN CONTEXT ………………………………………………………………………………….. 20
2. The National Context: Social Mobilization Around the Defense
of Human Rights in Brazil ……………………………………………………………………. 23
3. Violence Against Human Rights Defenders in Brazil ………………………………… 25
4. The Construction of a National Program for the Protection
of Human Rights Defenders………………………………………………………………….. 31
Cases 2002-2005 …………………………………………………………………………………….. 35
ADAMOR GUEDES (AMAZONAS) ………………………………………………………………………………………….. 37
SISTER ADELAIDE MOLINARI (PARÁ) ……………………………………………………………………………………. 39
ADENILSON DOS SANTOS AND JORGE DOS SANTOS (PERNAMBUCO) …………………………………………….. 40
ALEXANDRE MARTINS DE CASTRO FILHO (ESPÍRITO SANTO) …………………………………………………….. 43
ALVINO MENDES DE ALMEIDA, ISAC TOLENTINO DE ARAÚJO JR.,
JOSÉ GONZALES ACEDO, AND MARIA DEL PILAR MARTINS ………………………………………………………. 46
RODRIUEJO (BAHIA) ………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 46
AMÉRICO NOVAES (GOIÁS) ……………………………………………………………………………………………….. 49
ANA CORSO (RIO GRANDE DO SUL) …………………………………………………………………………………… 50
ANA MARIA DOS SANTOS (BAHIA) ………………………………………………………………………………………. 53
FRIAR ANASTÁCIO (PARAÍBA) ……………………………………………………………………………………………… 56
ANTONIO CARLOS”RUMBA” FERREIRA GABRIEL (RIO DE JANEIRO) …………………………………………….. 59
ASSOCIAÇÃO DE ADVOGADOS DE TRABALHADORES RURAIS (AATR) (BAHIA) ……………………………….. 61
BARTOLOMEU “BRASÍLIA” MORAES DA SILVA (PARÁ)98 …………………………………………………………… 63
CÉLIO RODRIGUES, ROBERTO BAGGIO, DARCI FRIGO, JOAQUIM EDUARDO MADRUGA
AND JOSÉ MARIA TARDIN (PARANÁ) ……………………………………………………………………………………. 65
CLÁUDIO ALVES DOS SANTOS AND THE REFERRAL CENTER AGAINST HOMOSEXUAL VIOLENCE AND
DISCRIMINATION (CENTRO DE REFERÊNCIA CONTRA A VIOLÊNCIA E A DISCRIMINAÇÃO
HOMOSSEXUAL, OR CERCONVIDH) (RIO DE JANEIRO) ………………………………………………………. 67
CLÁUDIO PEREIRA DA SILVA (BAHIA) ……………………………………………………………………………………. 69
COMMUNITY COUNCIL (CONSELHO DA COMUNIDADE) (RIO DE JANEIRO) ………………………………….. 71
COTURNO DE VÊNUS, ASSOCIAÇÃO LÉSBICA FEMINISTA DE BRASÍLIA
(LESBIAN FEMINIST ASSOCIATION OF BRASÍLIA) (BRASÍLIA-DF)………………………………………………….. 75
ON THE FRONT LINE
16
DEMÓSTENES RAMOS DE MELLO (SERGIPE) …………………………………………………………………………… 77
DIONILSO MARCON (RIO GRANDE DO SUL) …………………………………………………………………………. 78
SISTER DOROTHY STANG (PARÁ) ………………………………………………………………………………………… 80
ELEMAR DO NASCIMENTO CEZIMBRA (PARANÁ) …………………………………………………………………….. 84
FERNANDA GIANNASI (SÃO PAULO) …………………………………………………………………………………….. 85
GILCE FREIRE, MARKUS BREUSS, AND NAIRA REIS (MINAS GERAIS) …………………………………………… 88
GLAYDS ROMEO PECCEQUILO (SÃO PAULO) ………………………………………………………………………….. 90
IRINY NICOLAU LOPES (ESPÍRITO SANTO) …………………………………………………………………………….. 92
JAIR ANTONIO DA COSTA (RIO GRANDE DO SUL) ………………………………………………………………….. 94
JOÃO ALBERTO INÁCIO JÚNIOR (PARANÁ) ……………………………………………………………………………… 96
FATHER JOÃO MARIA (PARAÍBA) …………………………………………………………………………………………. 98
JOAQUIM BERNARDO PEREIRA AND OTHER LEADERS OF THE MOVEMENT OF THOSE AFFECTED
BY DAMS (MOVIMENTO DOS ATINGIDOS POR BARRAGENS) (MINAS GERAIS) ………………………………. 101
JUDSON BARROS (PIAUÍ) …………………………………………………………………………………………………. 104
KARINA PINHEIRO D´ALMEIDA LINS, JOÃO MAURÍCIO GUEDES
ALCOFORADO, AND ANDRÉA CARTAXO (PERNAMBUCO) …………………………………………………………. 105
SISTER LEONORA BRUNETTO (MATO GROSSO) …………………………………………………………………….. 110
LUIZ ALBUQUERQUE COUTO (PARAÍBA) ……………………………………………………………………………… 112
INDIGENOUS PEOPLES MACUXI, WAPICHANA, INGARIKÓ, TAUREPANG, AND PATAMONA —
RAPOSA SERRA DO SOL INDIGENOUS TERRITORY (RORAIMA) …………………………………………………… 114
MARIA CONCEIÇÃO ANDRADE PAGANELE SANTOS AND ARIEL DE CASTRO (SÃO PAULO) ………………. 116
MANOEL BEZERRA DE MATTOS AND ROSEMARY SOUTO MAIOR DE ALMEIDA (PERNAMBUCO) ………… 119
MARCOS LUIDSON ARAÚJO XUKURU, KNOWN AS “CACIQUE MARQUINHOS XUKURU” (PERNAMBUCO) 121
MARIA JOEL DIAS DA COSTA (PARÁ) ………………………………………………………………………………….. 123
MARIA SILVA AND JOÃO SOUSA272 (RIO DE JANEIRO) ………………………………………………………….. 125
MOVEMENT OF THOSE AFFECTED BY DAMS (MOVIMENTO DOS ATINGIDOS POR BARRAGENS,
OR MAB) (MINAS GERAIS, PARÁ, AND SANTA CATARINA) ……………………………………………………… 128
NELSON JOSÉ DA SILVA, ERASTÓTENES DE ALMEIDA, JOÃO BATISTA SOARES LAGE,
AND AÍLTON PEREIRA DE OLIVEIRA (MINAS GERAIS) …………………………………………………………….. 130
NERI ENO BEIR (RIO GRANDE DO SUL) …………………………………………………………………………….. 132
PASTORAL CARCERÁRIA DA ARQUIDIOCESE DE SÃO PAULO (ARCHDIOCESE OF
SÃO PAULO’S PRISON PASTORAL COMMISSION) (SÃO PAULO) ………………………………………………….. 133
PEDRO MARTINS DE FARIAS (PARAÍBA) ……………………………………………………………………………….. 134
RAIMUNDO ROSA NERES (BAHIA) ……………………………………………………………………………………… 136
REGINALDO FIRMINO DOS SANTOS (PARAÍBA) ……………………………………………………………………… 138
RIBAMAR FRANCISCO DOS SANTOS (PARÁ) …………………………………………………………………………… 140
ROBERTO MONTE AND PLÁCIDO MEDEIROS DE SOUZA (RIO GRANDE DO NORTE) …………………….. 141
ROSSINI ALVES COUTO (PERNAMBUCO) ……………………………………………………………………………… 144
FATHER TIAGO THORLBY (PERNAMBUCO) …………………………………………………………………………… 146
FRIAR XAVIER PLASSAT, FRIAR SILVANO REZENDE, LÚCIO DE AVELAR, JORGE VIEIRA,
AND TWO UNNAMED RURAL WORKERS (PARÁ) ………………………………………………………………………. 148
Table of cases …………………………………………………………………………………………. 149
Recommendations………………………………………………………………………………….. 155

Impressum

Na linha de frente : defensores de direitos humanos no Brasil : 2002-
2005 / [coordenação: Carlos Eduardo Gaio, Daniel Maurício Aragão,
Darci Frigo, Leandro Gorsdorf e Sandra Carvalho]. – Rio de Janeiro : Justiça
Global ; Curitiba : Terra de Direitos, 2006.
148 p.; 17,5 x 25cm.

 

ON THE FRONT LINE: HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDERS IN BRAZIL — 2002-2005
Coordination: Carlos Eduardo Gaio, Daniel Maurício Aragão, Darci Frigo, Leandro Gorsdorf, and Sandra Carvalho.
Editing and Organization: Carlos Eduardo Gaio, Sandra Carvalho, and Emily Goldman.
Research: Camilla Ribeiro, Carlos Eduardo Gaio, Daniel Maurício Aragão, Darci Frigo, Felipe Cardoso de Mello
Prando, Leandro Gorsdorf, Luciana Cristina Furquim Pivato, Luciana Silva Garcia, Maria Rita Reis, Nadine Monteiro
Borges, Phillippa Bennett, Renata Verônica Côrtes de Lira, and Sandra Carvalho.
Translation: Phillippa Bennett, Autumn François, Carlos Eduardo Gaio, Daniel Mauricio Aragão, Eduardo Botelho
Lins e Mello, Julia Figueira-McDonough, Kristen Schlemmer, Brenda Knapp, and Emily Goldman.
Layout: Sandra Luiz Alves.

 

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