From harelb@math.uchicago.edu Mon Jan 11 22:26:43 1993 Date: Fri, 8 Jan 93 17:52:28 CST From: harelb@math.uchicago.edu (Harel Barzilai) To: harelb@math.cornell.edu ****************************************************************** Article: 10387 of misc.activism.progressive Newsgroups: misc.activism.progressive From: rich@pencil.cs.missouri.edu (Rich Winkel) Subject: BRAZIL: DEATH SQUADS KILL CHILDREN BY THE HUNDREDS Message-ID: <1993Jan2.220430.3093@mont.cs.missouri.edu> Date: Sat, 2 Jan 1993 22:04:30 GMT ****************************************************************** /** reg.samerica: 336.0 **/ ** Topic: IPS:BRASIL-Death squads kill childr ** ** Written 5:28 pm Dec 30, 1992 by jbinder in cdp:reg.samerica ** From: James Binder Subject: IPS:BRASIL-Death squads kill children Copyright Inter Press Service 1992, all rights reserved. Permission to re- print within 7 days of original date only with permission from 'newsdesk'. Reference: Third World Dvpmnt Title: BRAZIL: DEATH SQUADS KILL CHILDREN BY THE HUNDREDS an inter press service feature by ricardo de bittencourt rio de janeiro, dec 23 (ips) -- about 100 children are murdered each month in the streets of rio de janeiro and sao paulo by 'extermination squads', according to researchers in the two cities. the execution of children in this south american nation has taken on unprecedented proportions, increasing by an estimated 70 percent in the past twelve months, according to sao paulo university's unit for studies on violence and the centre on marginalized populations (ceap) of rio de janeiro. the two research institutes put the average number of children assassinated each month in rio de janeiro and sao paulo at 60 and 40 respectively. but while children run the greatest risk of being executed in these two cities and in recife, they also face violent deaths in every other major brazilian city. no one knows the exact number of children killed by death squads throughout the country. official figures, where they exist, mask the true magnitude of the problem, researchers feel. a report compiled by rio de janeiro's civilian police stated that 306 minors suffered violent deaths in 1991 in that city. it also mentioned that there were 141 cases of ''corpses found,'' 136 cases of ''attempted homicide'' followed by death and 89 ''suspicious deaths.'' three hundred and six child deaths is already an impressive figure. but even if only half the other deaths related to minors, that would bring the total to 489 for rio de janeiro alone. consulted by ips, the civilian police's social communication unit failed to explain what was meant by ''attempted homicide.'' failure by the authorities to take adequate steps to curb the violence against street children has sparked much concern here. rio de janeiro deputy paulo mello said that a parliamentary commission which concluded an investigation on the city's death squads in december 1991, ''found that thousands of minors had died and that there were 15 'groups of exterminators'.'' ''we passed on our findings to the justice authorities. so far nothing has happened,'' added mello, who headed the commission. (more) ---- he said he asked the public prosecutor's office for reports on the measures adopted to protect minors, ''but so far i have not received any response.'' but many middle class people in rio de janeiro look askance at those who defend street children, whom they see as a threat. they argue that they should be in school and not on the street. ''why are they in the street and not in school? because there are no schools for 300,000 children in rio de janeiro,'' explained the provincial coordinator of the national movement of street children, antonio jose de oliveira. even when schools are found for street children, there is ''a long sequence of repeated failures because the programmes are conceived for another cultural universe, that of the middle class,'' he argued. brazil's economic crisis and the attendant unemployment, the disintegration of families, the housing shortage and the lack of schools are among the factors blamed for the existence of bands of children who sell sweets and trinkets, beg alms, steal and sleep in the streets. the institute of geography and statistics, a state body, estimated the number of street children throughout brazil at seven million in 1986. since then, the socio-economic crisis has worsened, which leads many to believe that the number is now much greater. the children move from place to place, sometimes to escape >from extermination squads and at other times to seek opportunities in other neighbourhoods. it is thus difficult to have a precise idea of their number. the figures on child deaths vary greatly. while the rio de janeiro police reported that 171 minors died violent deaths in that city in the first half of 1992, a child and juvenile court there put the number at 277, including 29 girls and 13 children under the age of eleven years. based on the preliminary figures of a survey it conducted, the ceap feels that over 600 children may have been murdered in 1992. the lack of protection for street children is not the only source of concern for the ceap. unidentified gunmen fired shots at its office, but no arrests have been made. and ceap executive secretary ivanir dos santos received death threats from persons who identified themselves as members of the ''national group for the protection of the society,'' and the ''group for a society without marginals.'' (more) ---- the two organizations accused dos santos of ''insisting on defending those little marginals'' and opposing the action of those who ''want to ensure the tranquility of our city.'' according to paulo mello, the impunity with which these groups operate generates fears for the future of the children and adolescents who, unprotected, face the increasingly ardous task of surviving in the street. (end/ips/trd/so/rb-im/kb/92) ---- ** End of text from cdp:reg.samerica **