(a) Joint resolution replacing B3-1144, 1165, 1179 and 1182/91

The European Parliament,

A. having regard to the tragic circumstances of the millions of homeless and orphaned children and adolescents living on the streets of Brazil's major cities, some 4000 of whom met a violent death last year,

B. whereas these young city dwellers are daily prone to intimidation, maltreatment and torture; whereas alleged child criminals are regularly murdered, without any action by the authorities to prevent, investigate or bring criminal proceedings against those responsible for these violations of human rights,

C. alarmed by the failure of the Brazilian authorities to deny categorically the alleged involvement of some of its officials in so-called 'death-squad' activities,

D. whereas, in a number of cases, street children have given evidence in court about these practices and have as a result been subjected to further acts of violence,

E. whereas the staff of organizations seeking to improve the situation of these children are also exposed to violence; whereas this jeopardizes the work of such organizations,

F. having regard to the serious shortcomings in this respect on the part of the Government of Brazil, which has been incapable of stopping these serious violations of human rights and of bringing the guilty parties to justice,

G. concerned at the seriousness of the problems of children throughout the world, with some 100 million living on the streets, 155 million under the age of 5 living in absolute poverty, more than 100 million - including at least 60 million girls - having no access to primary education and 14 million boys and girls dying every year of common diseases and malnutrition,

H. having regard to the provisions of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child,

I. noting that the European Council (Human Rights Declaration, 30 June 1991) urged that more attention be paid to the most vulnerable categories of people in the world, for example, children, women, old people, migrants and refugees,

1. Expresses its disgust at the acts of violence against street children in Brazil and the apparent indifference with which the authorities in Brazil treat this problem;

2. In this context, calls on the Brazilian Government to inquire into reports that organized groups deliberately attack and kill children on the streets of several major Brazilian cities given that the authorities ought to discourage more actively these practices;

3. Calls on the Council to draw the attention of the Brazilian authorities to the detrimental effect which the continuation of these human rights violations could have on relations between the EC and Brazil;

4. Calls on the Commission to examine ways in which the Community could help improve the situation of the seven million street children in Brazil and ways in which it might wish to use the 'conditionality principle' in economic relations with Brazil, should the violation of the rights of these children persist;

5. Calls on the Commission to establish contacts with the Committee of Experts set up under the UN Convention and international organizations such as UNICEF, the ILO and UNESCO to provide aid tailored to the situation and to the needs identified by such bodies, and calls on the Commission to create without delay an aid scheme with the appropriate financial resources to help the states in question to ensure the survival of children living in the streets;

6. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, Amnesty International, the Governments of the Member States, the Secretary-General of the United Nations and the Government of Brazil.