Brazil: Rubber tappers’ leader Antonio Macedo, prisoner of conscience

Antonio Batista de Macedo, a rubber tapper and campaigner for the rights of rubber tappers and indigenous people in Acre state, began serving a sixteen-month prison sentence on 20 September 1995. He was convicted for “inciting rubber tappers to disobey an eviction order”. Another rubber tappers’ leader, Damiao Goncalvez da Silva has been summoned to appear in court in connection with the same case, and may face similar imprisonment. AI has adopted Antonio Macedo as a prisoner of conscience, believing that his imprisonment is solely related to his peaceful activities promoting rubber tappers associations and cooperatives in the region.

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