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TITLE: BRAZIL HUMAN RIGHTS PRACTICES, 1993
DATE: JANUARY 31, 1994
AUTHOR: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
BRAZIL
Brazil, with a population of over 150 million, is a
constitutional federal republic comprised of 26 states and the
federal district. In an April 1993 plebiscite, Brazilian
voters endorsed the presidential system and rejected a proposal
to adopt a parliamentary form of government. Elections have
been free and fair since the transition from military to
civilian government was completed during the 1980's. The
previous president, Fernando Collor, was impeached and removed
from office by Congress in 1992 on charges of corruption,
3 years after his election. His Vice President, Itamar Franco,
is serving out the last 2 years of Collor's term. The next
elections, to be held in late 1994, will choose a president,
two-thirds of the Senate, 503 federal deputies, 27 governors,
and members of state legislatures.
Security forces in Brazil fall under federal or state control.
The state police, the focus of many human rights complaints,
are divided into two forces: the civil police, with a largely
investigative role, and the uniformed, so-called military
police (actually civilians employed by state governments), who
are responsible for maintaining public order. Crimes committed
on duty by military police come under the jurisdiction of
special military police courts, set up by the states, not by
the armed forces. Legislation is now before the Senate to
change the jurisdiction to civilian courts when military
policemen are charged with murder and other capital crimes.
Brazil's federal police is a small, specialized force dealing
with violations of federal law, tax evasion, narcotics, and
transboundary issues. The police, particularly those under
state control, were responsible for numerous human rights
abuses, including extrajudicial killings and serious physical
abuse of detainees. These abuses are seldom punished.
Brazil's economy was plagued by one of the highest inflation
rates in the world, with an annual rate of over 2,400 percent.
Government plans to cut spending and borrowing and to increase
tax collections had made little impact by the end of 1993.
Large disparities in income distribution characterize Brazilian
society, with the poorest 20 percent of the population sharing
only 2 percent of the national income. The richest 20 percent
have 26 times the income of the bottom fifth, and an estimated
32 million Brazilians every day received a less than adequate
diet.
Extrajudicial killings continue to be the principal human
rights problem in Brazil. Killings of criminal suspects and
minors by vigilante groups, often including members of police
forces, usually go unpunished. There is also widespread
violence against women and the poor, who are predominantly from
racial minorities or of mixed race. In rural areas, landowners
and their agents frequently resorted to threats and violence,
including killings, against activists. A confrontation between
invading gold miners and Yanomami Indians, along the Venezuelan-
Brazilian border, resulted in 16 deaths. Charges of genocide
have been brought against 23 miners. Only 2 were taken into
custody; they were released on December 29 when their trial was
delayed owing to difficulty in locating witnesses.
A special investigating committee of the Congress estimated
that as many as 500,000 minors work as prostitutes. Some
16,000 rural workers were rescued from forced labor without
pay, but the Labor Ministry says it cannot investigate all
reports of forced labor due to lack of resources. Cases of
egregious human rights violations were generally not
effectively investigated or prosecuted, and a widespread
climate of impunity remains the greatest obstacle to improving
human rights in Brazil. In two notorious Rio de Janeiro cases
in 1993, however, police accused of participating in killings
are under arrest, awaiting trial. This represents progress,
but the key will be whether the investigations result in
credible prosecutions with appropriate punishment of the
perpetrators.
RESPECT FOR HUMAN RIGHTS
Section 1 Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including
Freedom from:
a. Political and Other Extrajudicial Killing
Extrajudicial killings remained an extremely serious human
rights problem in Brazil in 1993. At least several hundred
Brazilians die annually as a result of extrajudicial killings
committed by various elements, including police, vigilante
groups, landowners and their agents, and invaders of indigenous
territories. In urban areas, police and vigilante groups,
often composed of members of the police force, were responsible
for numerous killings of criminal suspects, street children,
and slum dwellers. Domestic and international attention paid
to some of these killings provoked a public reaction which led
to the arrest of several police officers and others suspected
of involvement in the killings. However, in most killings of
criminal suspects, street children, rural labor leaders, and
indigenous peoples, those responsible are not brought to trial
or convicted.
Obstruction of justice by local elites and widespread public
apathy contributes to Brazil's climate of impunity. Rural
landowners intimidate local populations and law enforcement
authorities in order to impede investigations into killings of
rural laborers and landless people's advocates. The high crime
rate, the failure to apprehend most criminals, the slowness and
alleged corruption of the criminal justice system, and the
legal requirement to release those charged pending trial
contribute to public acquiescence in police brutality and
killings of criminal suspects. Investigations into these
incidents are hampered because witnesses hesitate to cooperate
with authorities for fear of retribution or because they and
the general public often sympathize with the actions of the
vigilantes.
In Rio de Janeiro, 31 military policemen were accused of
murdering 21 residents in the Vigario Geral slum on August 31,
in revenge for the earlier killing of 4 policemen in the
neighborhood. All but three of those indicted in the Vigario
Geral killings are in custody. One of the accused, a former
police officer, is serving as a member of the Rio de Janeiro
state legislature and can be arrested only if the legislature
revokes his parliamentary immunity. Five military policemen
were indicted for killing eight street children in Rio's
Candelaria Square on July 23. Police statistics released after
the Candelaria killings showed 328 minors had been killed
between January and June in Rio alone.
In recent years, human rights groups credibly claimed that
police in Brazil's largest city, Sao Paulo, appear to follow a
policy of killing criminal suspects rather than arresting
them. Police killed 1,470 individuals in "confrontations" in
1992, compared with 585 deaths in police actions in 1990. The
number of killings dropped sharply following the firing of the
state Secretary of Security for his role in the 1992 Carandiru
Prison massacre and the negative publicity it generated. This
strongly suggested that police killings are controllable; and
the number of such killings dropped to 409 in 1993.
Broad press coverage, both domestic and international,
generated by the Candelaria and Vigario Geral killings brought
swift investigations and identification of the accused
murderers in those cases. However, in most similar killings,
no one is charged, and the police fail to carry out effective
investigations. The victims in Candelaria and similar cases
are poor and mostly black. Human rights organizations credibly
charge that most are killed by extermination squads, who employ
current or former police officers.
Investigation of charges of police abuse is often slow and
uncertain, with many witnesses afraid to testify against police
for fear of retaliation. For example, Edmeia da Silva Euzebio
was shot and killed on January 15, 8 days after testifying
against police accused in the disappearance her son and nine
other youths in 1990. The accused murderer of Da Silva was
acquitted for lack of evidence. It has been estimated that
less than 20 percent of the cases against the police brought to
trial in police courts ever result in conviction. (Police
courts are special courts with jurisdiction over the state
police; see Section 1.e.)
Human rights groups credibly claimed the police used unnecessary
lethal force in storming the Carandiru Prison in 1992. The
police involved in the incident are being tried in police
court. Only 57 of the 120 accused had been questioned as of
the end of 1993. There are only four police court judges to
handle 14,000 cases pending against police in Sao Paulo. Given
this backlog, state legislators estimate that it may be 10
years before verdicts are reached in the Carandiru case.
There continue to be reports of murders of homosexuals. Sao
Paulo newspapers reported that 3 transvestites were murdered on
March 14; other reports claimed 17 transvestites were killed in
the first three months of 1993. One military policeman was
charged in the March 14 killings and was awaiting trial at
year's end. Homosexual rights groups claim, however, that the
vast majority of perpetrators of crimes against homosexuals go
unpunished.
Police violence also occurred in rural areas. In the
northeastern state of Alagoas, police were suspected in 80
percent of the 600 murders committed during 1992. The public
demanded federal action after three particularly egregious
police crimes: the military police killing of the civil police
chief; the assassination of a small town mayor by police
working for his rivals; and the murder and dismemberment of a
crusading city councilman, also known to be homosexual.
Most rural killings involved land disputes. The pastoral land
commission of the Catholic Church reported that 46 persons were
murdered in 1993 as a result of land disputes, compared to 35
in 1992. The increase in killings was accompanied by families
being forced off farms by threats, violent intimidation, and
physical expulsion. The body of the vice president of the
rural workers' union of Araguaina was found floating in a river
a week after he disappeared in March. Two landowners were
killed in ambushes in September near Rio Maria, leading to
abusive police tactics against squatters and secret arrests
without cause, according to the local priest, Father Ricardo
Rezende. On September 19, a band of men using military-like
uniforms wiped out a squatter settlement near Tucuman, killing
at least four persons, with three others reported missing.
In the state of Para, where more rural workers and their
leaders have been killed than in any other state, only one
gunman was convicted of murder in 1993, and no landowner has
ever been convicted for paying for the killings. The 1990 case
of the murder of rural workers' union leaders Jose and Paulo
Canuto was still pending in the courts; the investigative stage
in the case of their father, Joao Canuto, who was murdered in
1986, has finally been concluded. The case of the landowner
accused of hiring a gunman in 1991 to kill Expedito Ribeiro de
Souza, head of Rio Maria's rural union, remained unresolved at
year's end after a June 30 trial was postponed.
In a rare case where a landowner was convicted and jailed for
murder, Darli Alves and his son Darci, the killers of
rubber-tapper leader Chico Mendes, escaped from the Acre state
prison February 15. Human rights groups charge the escape was
aided by state authorities. A federal manhunt failed to find
them, and they remained at large. On March 23, the Supreme
Court upheld the conviction of Darli Alves, which had been
overturned by a state appeals court.
Another environmental activist and union organizer, Paulo
Vinha, was shot in the state of Espirito Santo on April 28
while investigating a sand mining operation inside an
ecological reserve. Two brothers who own the mining company
were arrested on charges of murdering Vinha.
b. Disappearance
There were no reports of politically motivated abductions. The
disappearance of street children or persons believed to be
criminals is often attributed to police or vigilante groups.
c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading
Treatment or Punishment
Torture is prohibited by the Constitution, which contains
severe legal penalties for torture or acquiescence in torture.
Although an Americas Watch report found that the use of torture
had declined among Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo police, there
continued to be frequent credible reports that police beat and
torture criminal suspects to extract information, confessions,
or money. In the state of Ceara, a bar association team in a
surprise visit to a local police station found Antonio Braga
bound with instruments of torture around him. He said he had
confessed to stealing a television set only after beatings,
shock, and near asphyxiation. Ceara's governor fired the
Secretary of Public Security, and ordered the suspension,
pending an investigation, of a police official and four
officers found torturing the suspected thief. The police
Inspector General in charge of investigating the torture
allegations resigned 3 months later after receiving death
threats. A spokeman for the Ceara bar association reported
that 17 other cases of torture had been documented through
testimony and physical exams.
Brazil's overcrowded prisons held 126,152 inmates in space
designed for 51,368. A May declaration signed by 39 human
rights organizations stated that "abuses, both physical and
psychological, and corruption represent the routine reality of
the Brazilian prison system." A federal investigation into
charges of abuse in Recife's prisons found that prisoners
reported electric shocks, near drownings, beatings, withholding
of food, and extended solitary confinement. The inspector
found prisoners held beyond their sentences, untreated AIDS and
tuberculosis, and guards selling their uniforms to prisoners
planning to escape. A followup visit by a federal commission
was canceled, and human rights monitors have been denied access
to the Recife prison since this inspection.
Conditions in juvenile detention centers continue in violation
of Brazil's statutes regarding juvenile offenders, due to
overcrowding and lack of resources. Sao Paulo's main juvenile
facility, where rioting broke out twice in 1992, was the scene
of another riot in March 1993. Human rights organizations said
at least 75 of the 117 inmates in the wing where the revolt
took place were beaten by authorities.
d. Arbitrary Arrest, Detention, or Exile
The Constitution limits arrests to those caught in the act of
committing a crime or those arrested by order of a judicial
authority. The constitutional provision for a judicial
determination of the legality of detention is usually
respected, although some convicted inmates are held beyond
their sentences due to poor record keeping. The law permits
provisional detention for up to 5 days under specified
conditions during a police investigation. This period may be
extended by judicial order. Illegal and incommunicado
detention without a judicial order, particularly of street
youths and children, remained a problem. A juvenile court
judge in Porto Alegre complained that pretrial detention of
minors often exceeded the legal limit. A legislative report in
Rio Grande do Sul also criticized a judge who ordered an AIDS
patient confined to a mental asylum without any legal
foundation.
e. Denial of Fair Public Trial
The judiciary is an independent branch of government. The
judicial system, with the Federal Supreme Court at its apex,
includes courts of first instance and appeals courts. States
organize their own judicial systems but must adhere to the
basic principles in the Federal Constitution. Brazil also has
a system of specialized courts dealing with police, labor,
electoral, juvenile, and family matters. Special police courts
have jurisdiction over state police; the record of these courts
shows a clear reluctance to punish colleagues for human rights
abuses. This has created a climate of impunity that encourages
further abuses. Police courts do not have jurisdiction over
civilians. Elected officials are immune from arrest and trial
until the end of their term in office unless impeached; thus
the impunity of the governor of Paraiba, Ronaldo Cunha Lima,
who shot his precedessor and political rival at point blank
range in a restaurant November 5 and continues to govern. His
party controls the state legislature and refuses to impeach him.
The right to a fair public trial, as provided for by law, is
generally respected in practice, although local judges often
demonstrated bias in favor of landowners in cases related to
squatters' claims and to the murder of rural activists. The
accused in the shooting case of Mariano Domingo Freire, the
leader of the Small Farmers' Association in Pernambuco, is
still at large because the court in the accused's hometown
failed to respond to another court's request that he be turned
over for trial.
Defendants are entitled to counsel and must be made fully aware
of the charges against them. In cases in which a defendant
cannot afford an attorney, one must be provided at public
expense; private attorneys are appointed to represent poor
defendants when public defenders are unavailable. Defendants
and their attorneys have the right to be informed of the
evidence on which charges are based. Only cases of willful
crimes against life are tried by jury; all others are tried by
a judge.
The judicial system is highly inefficient; many cases continue
for years. The need for court reform is widely recognized in
the legal and judicial community. In Pernambuco state,
16 judges were under investigation for corruption, and 3 were
suspended. Charges against the judges included partiality,
nepotism, and extortion. In one case, a military police court
judge was charged with deliberately misfiling and thus stopping
1,450 cases against police officers. The Inspector General and
human rights lawyers have received death threats as a result of
their investigations of the Pernambuco courts. On the other
hand, a single judge in Rio de Janeiro, Denise Frossard, was
hailed by the press and the public for daring to convict
14 notorious racketeers who control the lucrative numbers games
in that city. The racketeers were well known, but had operated
with impunity until Judge Frossard sentenced them to 6 years'
imprisonment. Appeals were pending at year's end; Judge
Frossard's life has been threatened.
The high level of crime and the perceived failure of the
judicial system to deal with criminals contributed to public
tolerance of most police killings and vigilante killings of
suspected criminals by irate citizens. Cases were reported in
all regions of the country. In Recife, a mob of 100 beat 3 men
to death after the men killed a retired nurse. Police have not
located any witnesses to testify against anyone in the mob. In
Rio de Janeiro, three men were beaten, doused with gasoline,
and burned to death after being mistaken for thieves. Drug
gangs are known to maintain their own system of order in Rio's
slums; in the Borel slum in December 1992, drug lords rounded
up and shot through the hand 17 youths who had been mugging the
gang's customers, scaring away business. The youths who sought
medical treatment were afraid to talk about who wounded them,
and the slum residents expressed satisfaction at the gang's
action.
f. Arbitrary Interference with Privacy, Family, Home, or
Correspondence
The Constitution provides for freedom from arbitrary intrusion
into the home. There were no reports of illegal entry for
political reasons, but illegal entry into homes without a
warrant occurred in searches for criminal suspects. A report
by the state legislature of Rio Grande do Sul found that
searches without warrants, theft of property, and threats
against the victims were often a police practice. A bar
association leader in Rio de Janeiro said police routinely
enter slum dwellings on the grounds that such structures do not
meet the legal definition of domiciles. Wiretaps are
unconstitutional except when authorized by a judicial authority
for purposes of criminal investigation and prosecution. The
inviolability of private correspondence is respected.
Section 2 Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
a. Freedom of Speech and Press
The right to free speech and to a free press as provided by the
Constitution is widely exercised, although government officials
are sometimes successful in imposing restraints (see below).
The 1988 Constitution abolished all forms of censorship.
Foreign publications are widely distributed in Brazil; prior
review of films, plays, and radio and television programming is
practiced only to determine a suitable viewing age. The press
and broadcast media routinely discuss controversial social and
political issues and engage in investigative reporting. Most
radio and television stations are privately owned; the
Government, through Congress, controls licensing authority.
Newspapers, which are privately owned, vigorously report and
comment on government performance.
Government officials frequently use libel regulations and other
laws to respond to critics in the press. In a small town in
the state of Santa Catarina, a newspaper publisher was jailed
for 3 weeks by a judge on charges of "offending public morals"
because his paper criticized local officials. A local judge
in the state of Tocantins attempted to censor newspapers and
television by prohibiting news of misuse of funds by an
ex-governor. By bringing libel charges, former President
Collor kept off the air a television drama series based on the
events leading up to his impeachment.
b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association
The Constitution provides for the right to assemble peacefully,
and this right is respected in practice. Permits are not
required for outdoor political or labor meetings, and such
meetings occur frequently.
c. Freedom of Religion
There is no favored or state religion. The majority of
Brazilians belong to the Roman Catholic church, but Protestant
churches have been expanding, and spiritism is widely
practiced. All faiths are free to establish places of worship,
train clergy, and proselytize, although the Government controls
entry into Indian lands.
d. Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign
Travel, Emigration, and Repatriation
There are no restrictions on movement within Brazil, except for
the protected Indian areas, nor are there any restrictions on
emigration or return. Some towns in the south, however, were
reported to be trying to block the entry of poor migrants from
the north. Brazil admits few immigrants, does not formally
accept refugees for resettlement, and is selective in granting
asylum.
Section 3 Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens
to Change Their Government
The Constitution provides for the right of citizens to change
their government through free elections. Executive and
legislative offices throughout the country at local, state, and
national levels are filled through democratic direct elections
among candidates representing many political parties. Voting
is secret and mandatory for all literate Brazilian citizens
aged 18 to 70, except military conscripts who may not vote. It
is voluntary for minors aged 16 to 18, for the illiterate, and
for those aged 70 and over.
Women have full political rights under the Constitution, and
they are becoming active in politics and government, but few
are in leadership positions. Only 5 percent of the seats in
the Federal Congress are held by women. Indians were given the
franchise under the 1988 Constitution, but they are essentially
marginalized from the political process.
A plebiscite on whether to change from the presidential form of
government to a parliamentary system, with the possibility of a
constitutional monarchy, was held in April 1993. A majority of
those voting chose to keep the presidential system; 25 percent
favored a parliamentary system; and only 10 percent, a
monarchy. Over 40 percent of the electorate, however, declined
to make a choice either by casting null or blank votes or by
staying away from the polls.
Section 4 Governmental Attitude Regarding International and
Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations
of Human Rights
Brazilian nongovernmental organizations (NGO's) actively
investigate allegations of human rights violations and often
initiate legal proceedings. Several international NGO's either
maintain offices in Brazil or visit periodically.
The Foreign Ministry barred two diplomats from visiting the
Yanomami reserve after a massacre (see section 5). By
subsequently requiring diplomats to obtain prior permission for
visits to Indian reserves through the Foreign Ministry, the
Federal Government has significantly increased the possibility
of delayed or restricted access. The Foreign Ministry accepts
human rights questions from international groups and transmits
human rights inquiries to relevant federal and local
authorities.
Section 5 Discrimination Based on Race, Sex, Religion,
Disability, Language, or Social Status
Discrimination on the basis of sex, race, religion, and
nationality is unconstitutional but continued to be a problem.
Women
The Constitution prohibits discrimination based on sex in
employment or salaries and provides for 120 days of paid
maternity leave. The provision against wage discrimination is
rarely enforced, however, and, as a reaction against the
maternity leave law, some employers seek sterilization
certificates from prospective employees or try to fire or avoid
hiring women of childbearing age.
There is a high incidence of physical abuse against women, and
125 cities have established special police offices to deal with
crimes against women. A special study by an international
human rights group found that over 70 percent of all reported
cases of violence against women take place in the home. A Sao
Paulo state study concluded that more than 50 percent of rapes
are committed by a family member and that investigation and
prosecution are rare.
In the city of Porto Alegre, police registered 1,500 domestic
violence complaints per month, but were not aware of any
convictions of husbands for wife beating. Women's rights
leaders explain that police prefer to mediate family disputes
rather than bring charges, and that women are too often
dependent upon men for their livelihood to consider demanding
punishment. Although the archaic concept of "defense of honor"
as a justification for wife murder was struck down by the
Supreme Court in 1991, courts are still reluctant to prosecute
and convict men who attack their wives. In one case, a woman
from the state of Rondonia was badly burned by a jealous
boyfriend; her attacker was acquitted by a state court, even
though he had been charged with the lesser charge of committing
bodily harm rather than attempted murder.
Children
Many children suffer physical abuse and deprivation. Of 60
million children and adolescents, an estimated 53 percent are
part of families whose per capita income is under half the
monthly minimum wage. Consequently many children under 18 are
found working on the streets of cities or in the fields beside
their parents (see Section 6.d.). There are no reliable
figures on the number of street children, some of whom are
homeless but most of whom return home at night with whatever
money they can contribute to the family. Although Brazil has
relatively advanced laws to protect children and adolescents,
and federal, state, and local councils have been formed to
address their problems, the reality for children is still
grim. In addition to the killings of street children (see
Section 1.a), an estimated 500,000 minors--some only 9 years of
age--are involved in prostitution, according to a Congressional
investigation. Although prostitution is widely tolerated, two
police raids were organized against houses of prostitution in
gold mining camps, where young girls were held forcibly. In
November police freed 92 adolescent girls and 30 girls, aged
from 8 to 12, from three dozen mining camps in Rondonia state.
Ten brothel owners were arrested. Illegal abortions are common
in Brazil, and one-fifth of the deaths of adolescent girls are
attributed to botched abortions.
Indigenous People
Brazil's approximately 250,000 Indians, who speak 170 different
languages, have a constitutional right to their traditional
lands. In practice, however, many indigenous peoples have only
a very limited ability to participate in decisions affecting
their lands, cultures, traditions, and the allocation of
natural resources. The Federal Government was charged with
demarcating 519 indigenous areas within 5 years after the 1988
Constitution was enacted. However, legal demarcation and
issuance of titles for only half those areas were accomplished
by the October 1993 deadline. Congress has not yet passed laws
to implement constitutional provisions with respect to Indian
rights, and indigenous groups are marginalized from the
political process.
The Constitution gives Indians the exclusive use of the soil,
rivers, and lakes located on their lands, while the Federal
Government holds the authority to develop mineral resources
found under Indian lands, as long as the Indians receive a
share of the proceeds. Legal regulations for development have
not been enacted, but illegal mining and timber cutting are a
constant problem on Indian lands. In one small victory for
Indian rights, a federal judge ordered a timber merchant to
compensate the Nhambiquara Indians for wood valued at $40,000
which had been taken from an Indian reserve in the state of
Mato Grosso. This sum is dwarfed by the amount of money being
taken from economic exploitation of these lands by
nonindigenous people.
Brazilian gold miners, working illegally on Yanomami Indian
lands, killed 16 Indians--including women and children--from
the Haximu village on the Brazil-Venezuela border and burned
down their village in August 1993. Brazil and Venezuela
launched investigations into the massacre, arrested 2 miners,
and issued warrants for 21 more. The two taken into custody
were released on December 29 when their trial was delayed owing
to difficulty in locating witnesses. There have been no
convictions, however, in any previous case involving the murder
of Indians. Federal police investigations into the killings of
10 other Yanomami since 1987 yielded no results. Ten years
after the murder of Guarani leader Marcal Tupa-y, who had
represented Brazil's indigenous people in a 1980 meeting with
Pope John Paul II, the two accused landowners were acquitted by
a jury in Mato Grosso do Sul on March 29, 1993. Two years
after two Atikum Indian leaders were gunned down in the state
of Pernambuco, their killers are still at large despite
warrants for the arrest of four suspects.
The Catholic Church's Indigenist Council reported in
mid-December that 42 Brazilian Indians had been murdered so far
in 1993. Twenty-four Indians were murdered in 1992. Other
problems are the high number of suicides among Indians and
deaths from diseases such as malaria, measles, and cholera,
introduced into Indian areas by outsiders. The Federal
Government failed to provide enough funding for adequate health
care for Indians.
National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities
Although racial discrimination has been illegal since 1951,
darker-skinned Brazilians frequently encounter de facto
discrimination. Most black Brazilians are found among the
poorest sectors of society. Even though nearly half of
Brazil's population has some African ancestry, very few senior
officials in government or the armed forces are black. There
are few blacks in senior private sector management positions.
Black consciousness organizations challenge the view that
Brazil is a racial democracy with equal treatment regardless of
skin color. Racial discrimination becomes most evident when
blacks seek employment, housing, or educational opportunities.
Blacks are more likely to be stopped by police and to bear the
brunt of police brutality. Data on the murders of street
children in major cities show that the victims are
disproportionately black.
In March the state of Sao Paulo created a commission on racism
and a special police office to handle racially motivated
crimes, in response to violent, racist attacks by "skinhead"
gangs. The first complaints to the antiracist police office,
however, involved racial slurs made by police and employers.
In the state of Espirito Santo in June, charges of racism were
brought against a businesswoman and her son who told a young
black woman she had no right to use the front elevator in their
luxury apartment building. The case gained unusual prominence
because the young woman was the daughter of the state's
governor, and it illustrates a curious ambivalence about race
in Brazilian society in which many blacks suffer indignities
while a few exceptions are elected to high office.
People with Disabilities
The 1988 Constitution contains several provisions for the
disabled, guaranteeing a minimum salary, educational
opportunities, and access to public buildings as well as public
transportation. As is the case with many other provisions of
the Constitution, no legislation has been enacted to implement
these objectives.
Section 6 Worker Rights
a. The Right of Association
The Labor Code has long provided for union representation of
all Brazilian workers (excepting military, military police, and
firemen), but imposed a hierarchical, unitary system, funded by
a mandatory "union tax" on workers and employers. Under a
restriction known as "unicidade" (one per city), the Code
prohibits multiple unions of the same professional category in
a given geographical area. It also stipulates that no union's
geographic base can be smaller than a municipality. Workers in
a union whose numbers increased (as when an industry grew)
could petition the State to split a preexisting union into two
or more unions. The 1988 Constitution frees workers to
organize new unions out of old ones without prior authorization
from the Government but retains other provisions of the old
Code. The retention of unicidade and of the union tax
continues to draw criticism both from elements of Brazil's
labor movement and from the International Confederation of Free
Trade Unions (ICFTU).
In practice, however, unicidade has proven less restrictive in
recent years, as more liberal interpretations of its
restrictions permitted new unions to form and--in many cases--
to compete with unions and federations that had already enjoyed
official recognition. The sole bureaucratic requirement for
new unions is to register with the Ministry of Labor which, by
judicial decision, is bound to receive and record their
registration. The primary source of continuing restriction is
the system of labor courts, which retain the right to review
the registration of new unions and to adjudicate conflicts over
their formation. Otherwise, unions are independent of the
Government and of political parties.
Approximately 20 to 30 percent of the Brazilian workforce is
organized, with just over half of this number affiliated with
an independent labor central. (Mandatory labor organization
under the 1943 Labor Code encompassed a larger percentage of
the workforce, but many workers are believed to have minimal if
any contact with these unions.) Attacks on rural labor
organizers continued (see Section 1.a.). The Constitution
provides for the right to strike (excepting, again, military,
police, and firemen, but including other civil servants).
Enabling legislation passed in 1989 stipulates that essential
services remain in operation during a strike and that workers
notify employers at least 48 hours before beginning a walkout.
The Constitution prohibits government interference in labor
unions but provides that "abuse" of the right to strike (such
as not maintaining essential services, or failure to end a
strike after a labor court decision) is punishable by law.
Federal and civil police, federal customs inspectors, port
crane operators, public and private bus drivers and fare
collectors, train and ferry operators, public and private
teachers, and federal and state government employees went on
strike in 1993. Formerly, the courts ruled virtually
automatically that strikes were abusive; over the last several
years, however, the courts have applied the law with more
discretion. The 1989 strike law prohibits firings or the
hiring of substitute workers during a strike, with certain
exceptions and provided the strike is not ruled abusive.
Nonetheless, some strikers were fired, with relief available
only through a usually lengthy court process. The president
and a number of directors of the National Aeronautical Workers'
Union were fired by Varig and Vasp airlines after a February
1988 strike. Some were subsequently rehired, but the then
president and five directors have remained without work, and
their labor court cases are still pending.
Although Brazilian laws make no provision for a central labor
organization, three major groups have emerged: the Sole
Workers Central (CUT), the General Workers Confederation (CGT),
and Forca Sindical. Although the centrals do not have legal
standing to represent professional categories of workers, all
three centrals can effectively acquire such standing by
affiliating existing statewide federations or nationwide
confederations, or by forming new federations and
confederations, challenging the old structure. However, the
status of the federations and confederations created since 1991
remains in doubt as a result of a challenge in the labor courts
by the old organizations.
Unions and centrals are free to affiliate internationally.
CUT, Forca Sindical, and CGT are affiliated with the ICFTU. A
small splinter organization, the General Workers Central,
affiliated with the formerly Soviet-controlled World Federation
of Trade Unions in March 1993.
b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively
The right to organize is provided for by the Constitution.
With some government assistance, businesses and unions are
working to expand and improve mechanisms of collective
bargaining. Nevertheless, under current Brazilian law, the
scope of issues susceptible to collective bargaining is
narrow. Further, the labor court system exercises normative
powers with regard to the settlement of labor disputes, thereby
discouraging direct negotiation. Existing law charges these
same courts, as well as the Labor Ministry, with mediation
responsibility in the preliminary stages of dispute settlement.
Wages are set by free negotiation in many cases, and in others
by labor court decision. Beginning in 1990, the Federal
Government attempted to control salary increases in order to
limit inflation, but the attempts appeared to have little
effect on wage settlements in the private sector.
The Constitution incorporates a provision from the Labor Code
which prohibits the dismissal of employees who are candidates
for or holders of union leadership positions. Nonetheless,
dismissals take place, with those dismissed required to resort
to a usually lengthy court process for relief. For example, in
the case of 12 directors of the Metalworkers' Union of Limeira
(Sao Paulo state) removed from their jobs by employers in 1989,
judicial actions were still under way against the companies.
In general, enforcement of laws protecting union members from
discrimination lacks effectiveness. Union officials estimate
that some 5 percent of such cases reaching the labor court
system are resolved within days through a preliminary judicial
order. The other 95 percent generally take 5 to 10 years (and
sometimes more) to resolve.
Labor law applies uniformly throughout Brazil, including the
free trade zones. However, the unions in the Manaus free trade
zone, like rural unions and many unions in smaller cities, are
relatively weaker vis-a-vis industry as compared to unions in
the major industrial cities in the southeast.
c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor
Although the Constitution prohibits forced labor, there were
repeated credible citations of cases of forced labor in
Brazil. The Federal Government asserted it was taking steps to
halt the practice and prosecute perpetrators but admitted that
existing enforcement resources are inadequate. Reports of
forced labor and debt bondage were common in rural areas in
particular. In 1993 the Catholic Church's Pastoral Land
Commission denounced a notable increase from 1991 to 1992 of
persons confined to farms and forced to work without pay (from
4,883 persons to 16,442 persons), and projected a continuation
of the problem into 1994. Of these persons, 8,000 were forced
to work in a single charcoal production operation in Mato
Grosso do Sul.
During 1993 cases of forced labor also were reported in the
following states: Bahia, Maranhao, Minas Gerais, Mato Grosso,
Para, Parana, Rio de Janeiro, Rio Grande do Sul, Santa
Catarina, and Sao Paulo. Forced labor was reportedly involved
in another case in charcoal for use in producing exported steel
and (along with child labor--see below) in production of sugar
for export. A provision in the 1993 Agricultural Reform Law
provides for the confiscation of property in cases of slave
labor, but this law is unlikely to have significant impact
without extensive enforcement.
State and federal authorities often did not investigate reports
of compulsory labor, claiming lack of resources. Local police
admitted that overseers or owners of many farms withheld pay
from migrant laborers, using force to retain and intimidate
them. Jurisdiction for such violations falls to the Ministry
of Labor, which has allocated insufficient resources for
enforcement. In 1993 the International Labor Organization
(ILO), while appreciating "the cooperative attitude now shown
by the Government," noted continuing reports of "very serious
violations of basic provisions" of ILO Convention No. 29 on
forced labor. The ILO recommended that the Government
strengthen its system of labor inspection, particularly in
rural areas. The ILO cited reports of a decrease in the number
of labor inspections, and that successive changes in the
Ministry of Labor had resulted in the discontinuation of
programs, including the rural labor inspection program.
d. Minimum Age for Employment of Children
The minimum working age under the Constitution is 14, except
for apprentices. Legal restrictions intended to protect
working minors under age 18 are often not enforced, however,
and the problem is widespread. Judges can authorize employment
for children under 14 when they feel it appropriate. (The ILO
noted in 1992 that the Constitutional provision for
apprenticeships under age 14 is not in accordance with ILO
Convention No. 5 on minimum age in industry.) By law, the
permission of the parents or guardians is required for minors
to work, and provision must be made for them to attend school
through the primary grades. All minors are barred from night
work and from work that constitutes a physical strain. Minors
are also prohibited from employment in unhealthful, dangerous,
or morally harmful conditions.
Despite these legal restrictions, however, official figures
state that nearly 3 million children, 10 to 14 years of age (or
4.6 percent of the work force), were employed. Of these,
46.4 percent worked 8 hours or more per day, while 96.3 percent
of this group received not more than the minimum salary. The
ILO has received reports alleging that millions of children are
subjected to forced labor.
In late 1992, the ILO began the "IPEC" project to move children
out of the Brazilian workforce. A draft report prepared under
this project in 1993 indicated that some 40 percent of the
employees of independent shoe manufacturers in Franca (Sao
Paulo state) were children under 14, employed in violation of
the law. The approximately 1,000 independent contractors
employ up to 20 percent of the 35,000 workers in the Franca
shoe industry. Among this 20 percent, researchers found some
2,000 children under 14 years of age. Most are exposed at work
to poisonous and addictive fumes from shoe glue. From January
1992 through January 1993, a further 397 children from 13 to
14 years of age were authorized by courts to work in Franca
shoe factories. According to figures cited in the report, 45
percent of Franca's 1992 cottage industry shoe production was
exported to the United States and elsewhere. A June 1993
agreement by manufacturers to eliminate these child workers did
not prove effective.
A 3-year study of sugar cane production in Pernambuco state
found that 30 percent of the work force was made up of children
and adolescents from 7 to 17 years of age, many cutting cane
with machetes. About 10 percent of the sugar is exported.
Specific reports of minors working illegally were also noted
from Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo (street vendors), Rio de
Janeiro (nightclubs), Bahia and Sao Paulo (sugar cane
harvesting), and Rio Grande do Sul (tree resin extraction and
logging). Although defenders of the current situation asserted
that economic conditions often compel children to contribute
income to their families, research undertaken for the ILO
indicated that the subminimum wages of such children have
little if any effect on their economic condition. Further, the
employment largely or completely eliminates any chance for
education and for subsequent economic improvement.
Enforcement of child labor laws is severely limited because the
Ministry of Labor, the responsible agency, deploys too few
inspectors and is influenced by a widely held view that it is
better for minors to work than to be involved in street crime.
e. Acceptable Conditions of Work
As of July 1993, the national minimum wage was adjusted every
month. Based on exchange rates at the end of month, when most
workers are paid, the minimum wage was $63.66 in November 1993,
and $58.46 in December. The Interunion Department for
Socioeconomic Studies and Statistics estimated that the minimum
wage is less than one-fifth of the minimum necessary (based on
a standard set by the 1988 Constitution) to support a family of
four. The most recently available national survey (for 1990)
showed that 35 percent of economically active individuals,
including minors from 10 to 14 years of age, earned no more
than the minimum wage. Many workers, particularly outside the
regulated economy and in the northeast, reportedly earned less
than the minimum wage.
The 1988 Constitution limits the workweek to 44 hours and
specifies a weekly rest period, "preferably on Sundays." This
rest period is for 24 consecutive hours. The Constitution
expanded pay and fringe benefits and established new
protections for agricutural and domestic workers; however, not
all of its provisions have been enforced.
Many Brazilian workers suffer from unsafe working conditions.
Occupational health and safety standards are set by the
Fundacentro, which is under the Ministry of Labor. Enforcement
of these standards is inconsistent because the Ministry deploys
insufficient resources for adequate inspection and enforcement.
There were also credible allegations of corruption within the
enforcement system. If a worker has a problem in the workplace
and has trouble getting relief directly from his employer, he
or his union can file a claim with the regional labor court,
although in practice this is frequently a cumbersome,
protracted process.
Brazilian law requires the establishment in work places of
Internal Commissions for Accident Prevention. Employee members
of these commissions are protected under law from being fired
for commission activities. Such firings, however, do occur,
and legal recourse usually requires years for resolution.
Incomplete figures for workplace accidents and fatalities in
1992 (authorities estimate they have 92 percent of the data)
showed 512,292 reported accidents, of which 3,390 were fatal
and 16,706 caused permanent disabilities. These data
undoubtedly understate the problem, because they only measure
about one-half the workers in a work force of approximately
64.5 million. (###)
[end of document]
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