/** reg.samerica: 1455.0 **/
** Topic: Rio Maria Bulletin **
** Written  9:15 AM  Jul  4, 1998 by riomariausa in cdp:reg.samerica **
                R I O   M A R I A   B U L L E T I N

Volume VIII, Number 4                            June, 1998  
   

                  LUZIA CANUTO'S SPEAKING TOUR

In October Luzia Canuto, International President of the Rio
Maria Committee, will visit the United States for the first
time. We have received a grant from the A. J. Muste Insti-
tute to cover part of the cost of her air fare. Luzia will
visit Washington, D.C., New York and Boston, and will speak
about the situation in the South of Para with various groups
at universities, churches, and human rights organizations.
Luzia is the daughter of Joao Canuto, the first president
of the Union of Rural Workers of Rio Maria, who was assassi-
nated in 1985. She is a school teacher and president of the
Union of Educational Workers of the State of Para. She lives
in Vila Nova, a working-class section of Rio Maria with her
husband Carlos Cabral, former president of the Union of
Rural Workers, and their two children.

Luzia Canuto is a person of faith and courage. She is never
afraid to speak the truth as she sees it, even in public
situations, which has resulted in her receiving death
threats. Most recently she was the victim of harassment by
the mayor of Rio Maria, who transferred her to a rural
school, in an area dominated by landowners known for their
violence. Thanks to international pressure (see the next
article), the transfer was cancelled.

We will have more information about Luzia's trip in a
bulletin in September.


                     ACTIONS BY OAS

              PROTECTION FOR LUZIA CANUTO

On March 23 the Interamerican Commission of Human rights of
the Organization of American States requested that the
Brazilian government adopt measures to protect Luzia Canuto,
in relation to the actions of the Mayor of Rio Maria against
her because of her activities in the teachers' union and
with the Rio Maria Committee. The Commission requested that
the government:

     - take measures to protect Luzia's life and safety 

     - allow her to carry out her work as a teacher, and as  
       a defender of human rights in the urban sector of Rio
       Maria.

Luzia has been receiving police protection by order of the
Governor of the State of Para in response to the request of
the OAS. On June 12 Luzia and her colleague Lionete Soares
were given a provisional transfer, by judicial order, back
to the urban schools where they had been teaching.
This was the result of international pressure, including
your letters. Thank you for your solidarity!

In this year of the fiftieth anniversary of the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights and of the Interamerican
Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Citizenship, the
urgings of the Interamerican Commission are sounding an
alarm over the violence with impunity in rural Brazil.


             ASSASSINATION OF JOAO CANUTO

On March 10 the Interamerican Commission of Human Rights of
the OAS gave a one-month deadline to the Brazilian
government to respond to its recommendations regarding that
government's responsibility for the assassination of Joao
Canuto in Rio Maria in 1985 and for the delay in bringing
the perpetrators of the crime to justice. The deadline was
extended, but the government still failed to give a
definitive response.

The Commission then decided to publicize its accusations at
the meeting on June 4 in Caracas, Venezuela, of the
representatives of all the member countries of the OAS.
The Brazilian government was accused of negligence in
failing to protect Joao Canuto, who at that time was
president of the Union of Rural Workers of Rio Maria, when
he was receiving death threats related to land issues and
political activities, and of delaying the investigation of
the crime. The police inquest opened in January 1986 took
seven years to be concluded. Then the case remained for two-
and-a-half years in the office of the Attorney General of
the State of Para. At the present time the questioning of
witnesses still has not been completed.

The publicizing of accusations by the Interamerican
Commission of Human Rights against a government is a rare
and serious measure. It is in effect a moral condemnation.
It signifies that that government has not shown respect for
the recommendations of international organizations of which
it is a member and does not value the international agree-
ments that it has signed.

Luzia Canuto was present at the press conference that was
organized on June 3 in Rio de Janeiro by the organizations
that had brought this case before the Interamerican Commis-
sion--Human Rights Watch/Americas, the International Center
for Justice and Rights, and the Pastoral Land Commission.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 
The Rio Maria Bulletin disseminates information received
directly from Rio Maria in the southeast Amazon region of
Brazil and from human rights groups.  Comments and inquiries
may be sent to:

                       Rio Maria Committee
                         P.O. Box 380312
                     Cambridge, MA 0238-0312

                 E-mail: riomariausa@igc.apc.org

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