Brazil: A Follow-up Report to the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights on the Economic, Social and Cultural Root Causes of Torture and Other Forms of Violence in Brazil
IntroductionAddressing
the links between violence and the denial of economic, social and cultural
rights
This follow-up report has been produced in
the context of the OMCT project “Preventing Torture and Other Forms of Violence
by Acting on their Economic, Social and Cultural Root Causes” funded by the
European Union’s European Initiative for Democracy and Human Rights, the Karl
Popper Foundation, the InterChurch Organisation for Development Cooperation
(ICCO) and the Foundation for Human Rights at Work.
This project is founded on the principle
of the interdependence of human rights and seeks to develop human rights
responses that address the links between poverty and marginalisation on the one
hand, and torture and violence on the other.
[1] If
torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment and other forms
of violence – including violence against women and children - are to be
effectively eliminated, then their economic, social and cultural root causes
must be understood and effectively addressed.
[2] The
converse equally applies: acting to reduce levels of violence in a given
society is a fundamental step towards ensuring the widespread enjoyment of
economic, social and cultural rights.
How the denial of economic, social and
cultural rights is related to torture and other forms of violence
- The poor,
excluded and other vulnerable groups are often the first and most numerous
victims of violence, including torture and cruel, inhuman and degrading
treatment.
- Levels of violence in a given community or society can be such that
individuals or groups are unable to enjoy their economic, social and cultural
rights.
- Violence is
inflicted on persons because they demand respect for economic, social or
cultural rights – their own or those of others.
- Policies and
programmes by governments, private actors or development and financial
institutions can exacerbate poverty and inequalities and lead to increased
levels of official, criminal and domestic violence.
The
Alternative Report on Brazil
An important activity foreseen under
OMCT’s project involves working with UN Treaty Body Committees and the
submission of alternative reports to assist their reflections.
On 6 and 7 May 2009, The Committee on
Economic, Social and Cultural Rights considered the second periodic report of
Brazil on the implementation of the International Covenant on Economic, Social
and Cultural Rights. In order to support the Committee’s work and to make
available complementary information, the secretariat of the World Organisation
Against Torture (OMCT) in Switzerland joined with Justiça Global and the
National Movement of Street Boys and Girls (MovimentoNacional de Meninose Meninas
de Rua
- MNMMR) in Brazil to develop an Alternative Report. This report - The Criminalisation Of Poverty. A Report on
the Economic, Social and Cultural Root Causes of Torture and Other Forms of
Violence in Brazil - was submitted for the Committee’s consideration in
April 2009.
In order to prepare this Alternative
Report, a mission to the state of Pernambuco was carried out by MNMMR and OMCT
from 9 to 15 February 2009. Justiça Global and OMCT subsequently carried out a
mission in the city of Rio de Janeiro from 15 to 17 February. The resulting
Alternative Report was not intended to offer an exhaustive appraisal of the
denial of economic, social and cultural rights in Brazil. Rather, it addressed
some of the key areas where there is a clear and direct link between violations
of economic, social and cultural rights and violence, or the threat of violence
in this country and offered recommendations in this regard.
At the heart of the Alternative Report is
the assertion that violence is an inherent element of poverty in Brazil: it
disproportionately affects the poorest communities, in urban and rural areas
alike, and in turn reinforces this poverty. Furthermore, State actors engaged
in law enforcement tend to “profile” the poor, and particularly the poor
residents of Brazil’s favelas, as
“criminals”. This identification is reinforced by media reports, and even
statements by public figures. In turn, the criminalisation of the poor
justifies public security strategies that violate a range of human rights,
including the right to life, as police engage in arbitrary actions against favela residents, particularly young,
black males. Identified as criminals by the police, the poor are at the same
time also victims of crime, and organised gangs control much of the economic
resources in Brazil’s poor urban neighbourhoods.
The Alternative Report by Justiça Global, MNMMR and
OMCT makes concrete recommendations as to how the
Brazilian Government should address the issue of violence against its poorest
and most vulnerable citizens (see appendix 5). Several of these recommendations
– and particularly those dealing with policing strategies - are echoed in the
programmatic actions proposed under Brazil’s Third National Human Rights
Programme (Programa Nacional de Deraitos Humanos – PNDH-3, Decree no. 7.037),
approved on 21 December 2010 (see below).
Follow-up
activities
OMCT’s project on “Preventing Torture and
Other Forms of Violence by Acting on their Economic, Social and Cultural Root
Causes” not only foresees the production of alternative reports, but also
includes provisions for follow-up missions to assess the progress of State
parties in implementing the recommendations produced by UN Treaty Body
Committees. It was in this context that OMCT conducted a five-day follow-up
mission to Brazil from 14 to 19 March 2010. The purpose of this mission was
twofold: to assess developments in the enjoyment of economic, social and
cultural rights in the light of the Committee’s recommendations to the
Government of Brazil following the submission of the State Party’s second
periodic report – and in particular those recommendations most closely linked
to the issue of violence in Brazilian society - and to assist in the launch and
dissemination of the Alternative Report on Brazil prepared by OMCT, Justica
Global and MNMMR in April 2009.
This follow-up mission was carried out in
Rio de Janeiro by a representative of OMCT, with important support provided by
the staff of Justiça Global. The mission schedule is reproduced in appendix 1
to this report. Appendix 2 provides details of the launch of the report and the
associated public debate, appendix 3 reproduces the statement by OMCT at this
event, and appendix 4 provides examples of media coverage.
[1] See OMCT,
Attacking the Root Causes of Torture: Poverty, Inequality and Violence
– An Interdisciplinary Study, Geneva, 2006,
www.omct.org.
In his role as UN Special Rapporteur on the question of torture, Sir Nigel
Rodley noted: “as long as national societies and, indeed, the international community
fail to address the problems of the poor, the marginalized and the vulnerable,
they are indirectly and, as far as the exposure to the risk of torture is
concerned, directly contributing to the vicious circle of brutalization that is
a blot on and a threat to our aspirations for a life of dignity and respect for
all”, Interim Report of the Special Rapporteur of the Commission of Human
Rights on the question of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading
treatment or punishment, UN Doc. A/55/290, 11 August 2000, para. 37.
[2] Of course, many other measures must be taken to eliminate torture in
addition to addressing its economic, social and cultural root causes. These are
dealt with in OMCT-sponsored alternative reports to the UN Human Rights Committee,
the UN Committee Against Torture, the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child
and the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women.