Human Rights Council elections 2008 - Brazil

Hundreds, if not thousands, of people are killed annually by police predominantly in situations described as “resistance followed by death”. Brazil is suffering from extreme levels of criminal violence, with exceptionally high numbers of killings.

The vast majority of homicides are concentrated in socially excluded areas, which lack effective protection from the state, condemning residents to live between criminal and police violence. Police operations – especially those in Rio de Janeiro – often result in scores of people being killed and injured.

Impunity for human rights violations continues to be a major concern for Amnesty International, including the lack of independent bodies to receive and investigate complaints and the limited protection for victims of or witnesses to human rights violations.

Severe overcrowding, poor sanitary conditions, gang violence and riots continue to blight the prison system and there are reports of widespread and systematic practice of torture and ill-treatment. Due to the lack of effective mechanisms to report, investigate and prosecute allegations of torture, many perpetrators go unpunished.

Figures released by prison officials show that 30% of all deaths in custody were as a result of homicide – six times the rate in the wider population.

Violent disputes over access to land continue between landowners and landless peasants, indigenous peoples or quilombolas (communities made up of descendents of former slaves). Private security companies or gunmen hired by landowners and multinational companies operate beyond the law and with impunity in many states. Forced evictions, often involving threats and intimidation, continue.

Delays in the process of officially registering indigenous lands have put indigenous groups at risk across Brazil. The state of Mato Grosso do Sul remains the focal point for violence against indigenous peoples, where indigenous peoples fighting for their constitutional right to ancestral lands suffer extreme social and economic deprivation while some have been threatened and killed.

Elsewhere, particularly in Mato Grosso, Roraima and Maranhão, indigenous lands are being overrun by illegal loggers, gold prospectors and ranchers, generating further violence. Lack of state protection means some indigenous territories degenerate into lawless zones.

In order to combat slave labour, an inspection unit, the Grupo Movel, was created in 1995. However, its members have been threatened, attacked or even killed. This, combined with pressure by the landowner lobby, led to the temporary suspension of the unit’s activities.

Strengthening of anti-slavery legislation has so far been resisted by a pro-landowner block in Congress.

Despite the adoption of a new constitution in Brazil in 1988, huge gaps remain between the spirit of laws to protect human rights and their implementation. Nearly five years after the beginning of the process of implementing the Rome Statute of the international Criminal Court in national legislation, the process has stalled.

Legislation is in place to create a National Human Rights Council; however, the law falls short of international standards established in the Paris Principles.

Recent Amnesty International statements and reports:

General

Amnesty International Annual Report extracts for Brazil, 2005-2007

Human rights violations in police operations

Brazil: “From burning buses to caveirões”: the search for human security (Report, 2 May 2006)
Brazil: “We have come to take your souls”: the caveirão and policing in Rio de Janeiro (Report, 13 March 2006)
Brazil: “They come in shooting”: policing socially excluded communities (Report, 2 December 2005)

Rights of minorities and indigenous peoples

Brazil: "Foreigners in Our Own Country": Indigenous Peoples in Brazil” (Report, 30 March 2005)

Violence against women

Brazil: Picking up the pieces: Women's experience of urban violence in Brazil (Report, 17 April 2008)

Ratification of International Treaties

Treaty Status Recognition of specific competences of Treaty Bodies Reservations/Declarations
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) Acceded None  
Optional Protocol to the ICCPR      
Second Optional Protocol to the ICCPR on the death penalty      
International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights Acceded    
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) Ratified   Entered
Optional Protocol to CEDAW Ratified Arts. 8 and 9 (inquiry procedure)  
International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination Ratified Art. 14 (individual complaints)  
Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT) Ratified Art. 20 (inquiry procedure)
Art. 22 (individual complaints) 		 
Optional Protocol to CAT Ratified    
Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) Ratified    
Optional Protocol to the CRC on children in armed conflict Ratified   Entered
Optional Protocol to the CRC on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography Ratified    
International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families      
International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance Signed    
Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court Ratified    
Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees Ratified   Entered
Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees Acceded    
The Four Geneva Conventions Ratified    
Protocol I to the Geneva Conventions relating to the Protection of Victims of International Armed Conflicts Ratified    
Protocol II to the Geneva Conventions relating to the Protection of Victims of Non-International Armed Conflicts Ratified    
Protocol III to the Geneva Conventions relating to the Adoption of an Additional Distinctive Emblem Signed    

Compliance with Reporting Obligations

Total Overdue Reports Up to 5 years overdue 5-10 years overdue 10 years or more overdue
12 CAT: 5th periodic report
CRC: 2nd, 3rd, and 4th periodic reports
CRC OP AC: initial report
CRC OP SC: initial report
CERD: 18th, 19th, and 20th periodic reports
 CAT: 3rd and 4th periodic reports CAT: 2nd periodic report

Cooperation with the Special Procedures

Extension of a standing invitation Outstanding visit requests (year requested) Forthcoming visits (dates if available) Missions carried out between May 2007 and April 2008
All Special Procedures Special Rapporteur on Adequate Housing (2007) None Special Rapporteur on Summary Executions (Nov. 2007)
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