Franciscans InternationalFranciscans Report Systemic Injustice in Brazil
FI workshop participants identify human rights concerns in Brazil (May 2011)
FI submitted a Report for the forthcoming UN Universal Periodic Review (UPR) on Brazil in May/June 2012. The submission highlights two systemic problems.
Firstly, the lack of protection for human rights defenders who are subject to physical violence, threats, and judicial harassment when advocating for the right to land, indigenous peoples’ rights, and environmental rights. Secondly, a failure to guarantee minimum conditions for female inmates detained in state institutions.
FI recommends the Brazilian Government to: ensure a national Protection Programme for human rights defenders; ensure all perpetrators against human rights defenders are brought to justice; address overcrowding in prisons; keep female and male offenders separate.