From: Human Rights Coordinator <hrcoord@igc.apc.org>
Newsgroups: soc.rights.human
Date: 28 Dec 92 11:47 PST
Subject: BRAZIL: DEATH SQUADS KILL CHILDREN
Nf-ID: #N:cdp:1476700914:000:5306
Nf-From: cdp.UUCP!hrcoord    Dec 28 11:47:00 1992


From: Human Rights Coordinator <hrcoord>
Subject: BRAZIL: DEATH SQUADS KILL CHILDREN 

/* Written 12:09 am  Dec 26, 1992 by newsdesk@igc.apc.org in igc:ips.englibrary */
Copyright Inter Press Service 1992, all rights reserved.  Permission to re-
print within 7 days of original date only with permission from 'newsdesk'.

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)
----