8 June 2011 | News | Human rights | Social activists at risk
Lawless
Brazil: 98% of crimes committed in Para’s rural area remain unpunished
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Social organizations linked with the struggle for land in Brazil have said once again that the State of Para -in the north of the country- is de facto ruled by large land owners and paramilitary groups hired by them. That perception of “no man’s land” is based on statistics.
One of the clearest examples was made public this week. The National Rural Attorney’s Office and the Human Rights Attorney, which depend on the President of the Republic, issued a report saying that 98% of the cases of murder registered in Para in the last ten years – linked with rural conflicts- remain unpunished.
The official document, published by newspaper Folha de Sao Paulo, covered 180 violent incidents that led to 219 crimes between 2001 and 2010. Only four cases (2.2%) led to police investigations, reports, court proceedings and convictions.
The report says that most murders in the rural areas of Para (61%) are not even treated by any court and a great number of murders, 162, is linked with conflicts over land, natural resources or wood.
The federal investigation also shows the conclusion for the states of Mato Grosso and Rondonia: in the former 10% of the cases of murder led to convictions, while in the latter 13% of the murder cases led to prosecutions.
“Para is the place where extermination groups have greater incidence in Brazil. There is great impunity and that is not compatible with democracy, the rule of law and human rights”, said the Human Rights Minister Maria do Rosario.
She was quoted in an article by Frei Betto published last week in the Correio Braziliense. Besides, the Brazilian theologist puts on the table the figures of the Land Pastoral Commission on rural conflicts. The CPT says that between 1985 and 2010 over 1,500 peasant leaders were murdered in Brazil. The authors of the crimes were tried and convicted in only 94 of these cases.
“The list of people under threat is very long. It includes 1.800 people. The government should put an end to this terrible Amazonian strategy of killing to deforest”, said Frei Beto. He demands President Dilma Roussef to veto the Forestry Code which was recently passed in the House of Representatives and awaits a vote in the Senate.
