RESOLUTION B3-0372 and 0423/93

Resolution on the escape of the murderers of Chico Mendes in Brazil

The European Parliament,

-having regard to Article 7 of ILO Convention 95 on debt enslavement,

-having regard to Article 3 of the Framework Agreement for Cooperation between the EEC and the Federative Republic of Brazil,

A.having regard to the need to respect democratic principles and human rights,

B.recalling with great respect the work of the trade unionist and grassroots environmentalist, Chico Mendes, who worked with rubber tappers to preserve the Amazon rainforest,

C.recalling his brutal murder on 22 December 1988 and the quick investigation of this crime, which led to the arrest, conviction and sentence to 19 years' imprisonment of Darci and Darli Alves da Silva,

D.noting that, according to Amnesty International, this fact marked the first time that a Brazilian court had convicted a landowner for ordering the murder of a rural trade unionist,

E.deeply concerned by the escape of Darci and Darli Alves da Silva from jail in Rio Branco, State of Acre, a fact that weakens substantially the credibility of the Brazilian justice system,

F.concerned also that similar cases have occurred where state authorities appear unwilling or unable to prevent jail escapes by people accused of assassinating union leaders and human rights workers in rural areas,

G.convinced that action to prevent and investigate killings of peasants and rural trade union leaders in the context of land disputes should be taken by the newly installed Brazilian Government, particularly because out of 1684 such cases between 1964 and 1991, only 25 came to trial and in only 14 cases were people convicted,

H.whereas the forest lands for which Chico Mendes gave his life, like those of the Yanomami people, have once again been invaded by gold prospectors, Awa forest land continues to be destroyed by illegal settlers, loggers and farmers and there is a serious delay in the implementation of Article 231 of the Brazilian Constitution, which requires all indigenous lands to be demarcated by October 1993,

I.having regard to numerous reports over the last two years of forced labour and debt bondage of workers in the Amazon region of Brazil as the modus operandi of certain branches of economic activity, such as forest clearing, mining or charcoal production, the principal form of subjection being by debt incurred through transport to work sites and in company stores, against which wages are held, as Mr M. Lavenere Machado has recently been able to report to Parliament,

J.concerned by reports of multiple torture and killings by hired gunmen of workers trying to flee such conditions,

1.Appeals to the Brazilian authorities to investigate the circumstance of the escape of Darci and Darli Alves da Silva, the possible complicity of guards and law enforcement officers and bring to justice those responsible;

2.Calls on European Political Cooperation to bring to the attention of the Brazilian Government the importance the European Community attaches to this case;

3.Appeals to the Brazilian authorities to ensure that all reported cases of human rights violations in the context of land conflicts are brought to justice, including the instigators;

4.Welcomes the Brazilian Government's Operaçao Selva Livre to remove the gold prospectors from Yanomami Reserve to Boa Vista;

5.Appeals to the Brazilian Government to provide education and employment for the ex-miners in Boa Vista and also demarcate, protect and ratify Awa Guaja land and other indigenous territories further to Article 231 of the Constitution by October 1993;

6.Calls on the Ministry of Labour, newly reconstituted as a separate Ministry in April last year, to strengthen inspectorates and to implement the systematic follow-up of denunciations of illegal coercive labour practices;

7.Instructs its President to forward this resolution to EPC, the Council, the Commission and the Government of Brazil.