B3-1265, 1270, 1290, 1297 and 1310/93

Resolution on the violation of human rights in Brazil

The European Parliament,

-recalling its previous resolutions on Brazil,

-having regard to Article 1 of the Framework Agreement for Cooperation between the EEC and the Federative Republic of Brazil,

A.shocked by the continued and systematic killing, torture, extrajudicial executions and other human rights violations in Brazil committed by members of the military police, other police forces or hired criminals with impunity,

B.shocked by the killing of eight youths near the Candelaria Church in Rio de Janeiro on 23 July 1993 by members of the military police forces,

C.deeply concerned that there have been almost 1800 cases of murder since 1964 in land disputes, including those of hundreds of important leaders and activists, rubber tappers and indigenous people struggling to save their traditional way of life and the rainforest,

D.shocked and dismayed by the brutal murder of at least 18 Yanomami, men, women and children from the community of Haximu, probably by gold prospectors working illegally on the borders of Venezuela and Brazil in August 1993, declared by the UN to be the Year of the World's Indigenous People,

E.horrified by the killing of 21 people in the favela of Vigario Geral, Rio de Janeiro, on 30 August 1993, this being the third massacre in 11 months attributed to the military police,

F.recalling the prison massacre in the Casa de Detenç o, S o Paulo, on 2 October 1992, where, according to Amnesty International, 111 prisoners were murdered by members of the military police as 'part of a deliberate and concerted action',

G.deeply concerned by the appointment of officials alleged to have taken part in torture or murder to important posts in the Brazilian Government, such as Mr Afonso Antonio Marcondes, who was appointed to the post of Under-Secretary for Intelligence at the Secretariat for Strategic Affairs on 7 July 1993,

1.Appeals to the Brazilian authorities to bring those responsible for torturing and killing to justice, especially those guilty of the massacres described above;

2.Calls on the Brazilian authorities to ensure the personal safety and physical and psychological integrity of the survivors of the massacres referred to as well as fair redress from the state, including financial compensation for the families and dependants of the victims;

3.Calls on the Brazilian authorities to make a fundamental review of the operation of the civil and military police forces and calls on the current democratic government and the state governments to show greater firmness in condemning, investigating and punishing these crimes and supports all the measures they may take to preserve the lives, the right to co-existence, the civic rights and the livelihood of all Brazilians;

4.Calls on the Brazilian authorities to consider transferring jurisdiction for common crimes committed by military police on active duty to ordinary civilian courts;

5.Forcefully condemns the massacre of Yanomami Indians and welcomes the strong words of the Attorney-General of Brazil in condemning the massacre, calling it 'genocide';

6.Calls on the Brazilian authorities to ensure the removal of all gold prospectors from indigenous land and repeats its appeal for the demarcation, protection and ratification of indigenous land, which, under the 1988 Constitution, should be completed by October 1993;

7.Reiterates its instructions to the Subcommittee on Human Rights to hold a public hearing to consider the problems of indigenous peoples in Latin America;

8.Requests European Political Cooperation to condemn the massacres in the strongest possible terms;

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