We representatives of human rights organizations and of the civil society, of housing movements, labor movements, organizations representative of various professional categories, base Christian communities, family and friends of lawyer Fausto Ribeira da Silva Filho, who was cowardly assassinated on August 13,1991, came before the public to ask the Governor of the State of Sao Paulo to take steps for the immediate examination of this crime. Fausto, who was black, worked as a lawyer in the Pro-Victim project, in the Eastern Zone of Sao Paulo, defending the landless and those living in favelas. He also acted in defense of the poor, the workers,and those less fortunate. He was murdered with three gunshots to the head at three o'clock in the afternoon on a heavily travelled street in Vila Curuca, in Sao Miguel Paulista. Three months later, the murderers remain free.
Investigations are practically at a standstill.
They are almost never brought to light, contrary to crimes practiced against the rich in the wealthier regions of Sao Paulo, like Alphaville, Moema, or Morumbi. In these cases, the police apprehend the murderers in a few days and they are even brought to trial and condemned in a few months. In the Eastern Zone of Sao Paulo alone, there are 29 imminent conflicts, involving squatters and favela dwellers in dispute with land-grabbers. The violence caused by these conflicts increases every day. Land-grabbers threaten lawyers, priests, and pastoral workers who support the revindications of the landless and favela dwellers.