WHEREAS,
The Brazilian government, in response to a request from the Inter American Commission on Human Rights, may open a new inquiry into the murder of journalist Manoel Leal de Oliveira, which happened on December 14, 1988 in Itabuna, Bahia, in order that those who ordered the crime may be identified and punished; the Internal Affairs Office of the Secretariat of Public Safety of Bahia is awaiting the results of a Disciplinary Administrative Procedure to determine whether police officer Mozart Brasil, sentenced to 18 years of prison in September, 2003, should be expelled from the Civil Police because of his participation in the crime; an appeal of the decision that absolved Marcone Sarmento in December, 2005 has not been decided;
WHEREAS,
The former mayor of Eunápolis, Paulo Dapé, and his employees Maria José Ferreira Souza (Maria Sindoiá), Waldemir Batista de Oliveira (Duda), and Antônio Oliveira Santos (Toninho da Caixa) were indicted for the death of radio reporter Ronaldo Santana de Araújo, which happened on October 9, 1997 in Eunápolis, Bahia; they filed a special appeal with the Superior Court of Justice against the judges decision, but the admissibility of the appeal has not yet been determined;
WHEREAS,
The three persons convicted of the murder of radio reporter Jorge Vieira da Costa, in March, 2001 in Timon, Maranhão, appealed their sentence at the second level in the Superior Court of Justice (STJ); another three accused of being the instigators of the crime were able to bar the action in the courts, but the Prosecutors Office appealed the decision to the STJ; and this appeal, which had been detained for analysis by Justice Hamilton Carvalhido, was passed on to another justice, O.G. Fernandes, who was installed in June of this year; because of his recent arrival, the new justice has not yet analyzed the appeal;
WHEREAS,
There have been no advances in the inquiries into the murders of Reinaldo Coutinho da Silva on August 29, 1995 in São Gonçalo, Rio de Janeiro, Mário Coelho de Almeida Filho on August 16, 2001 in Magé, Rio de Janeiro, and José Carlos Mesquita on March 10, 1998 in Ouro Preto do Oeste, Rondônia; in none of these cases have those who ordered the crimes been identified;
WHEREAS,
There is a risk that the inquiry into the death of Nivanildo Barbosa Lima, found dead at the Paulo Afonso dam on July 22, 1995, will be tabled at the request of the Prosecutors Office, as has already happened in the cases of the murder of Edgar Lopes de Faria, on October 29, 1997 in Campo Grande, Mato Grosso do Sul, and the disappearance of journalist Ivan Rocha on April 22, 1991 in the city of Teixeira de Freitas, Bahia;
WHEREAS,
The Prosecutors Office is still awaiting results of examinations of mental sanity of two persons accused of the murder of social columnist Maria Nilce Magalhães on July 5, 1989 in Vitória, Espírito Santo;
WHEREAS,
There continues to be no date set for a trial of João Arcanjo Ribeiro, accused of heading organized crime in the State of Mato Grosso and of having ordered businessman Domingos Sávio Brandão de Lima killed on September 30, 2002, owner of the Folha do Estado and radio station Cidade de Cuiabá FM.
WHEREAS,
Alfredo Rui Dias Arevalos remains at large, accused of the murder of radio reporter Samuel Román, killed in Coronel Sapucaia on April 20, 2004; and Cleyton de Andrade Segoya, who have a trial set for October 31, 2008; the ex-mayor of Coronel Sapucaia, Eurico Mariano, sentenced to 17 years of detention, has appealed his sentence;
WHEREAS,
Helton Jonas Gonçalves de Oliveira was tried and convicted on July 11, 2006 and sentenced to 16 years of prison for the murder of radio reporter José Carlos Araújo on April 24, 2004 in Timbaúba, Pernambuco; the other defendants, Marcelo de Melo and Fernando Mariano da Silva Filho, have their trial set for October 22, 2008.
WHEREAS,
The vote of Justice Luiz Fux of the Superior Court of Justice (STJ) is still being awaited in the case of an accusation against Appeals Judge José Maria Lucena, for having ordered the murder of radio reporter Nicanor Linhares Batista on July 30, 2003, in Limoeiro do Norte, Ceará; there is suspicion of attempts to delay the case as much as possible; one of those accused of the crime is at large;
WHEREAS,
On July 10 of this year, Vladimir Rainieri Pereira Sobrosa was absolved of the murder of journalist Aristeu Guida da Silva, killed on May 12, 1995 in São Fidélis, Rio de Janeiro; before his absolution, Sobrosa had been sentenced to 28 years of prison in April, 2002; he appealed the sentence and was tried again, receiving a sentence of 21 years; he alleged that a crucial witness had not been heard and for this reason the second trial was voided; two other accused individuals remain at large even today, one of whom is a police officer; therefore, the crime goes unpunished.
WHEREAS,
Prosecutors of the Special Regional Group for Action in the Prevention of Organized Crime (GAERCO) of Campinas accused police officers Valnei Bertoni, Paulo César Ronceiro, Edson Luiz Ronceiro, Adélcio Carlos Avelino, and businessman Carlos Alberto da Costa of the murder of journalist Luiz Carlos Bargon Filho, which happened on May 5, 2007 in Porto Ferreira, São Paulo; the person ordering the crime has not been identified; the victims widow, workers at the Prosecutors Office, and local journalists have been threatened; a key witness died in an automobile accident in August, 2008;
WHEREAS,
After some time without any progress, the inquiry into the murder of radio reporter Jorge Lourenço dos Santos on July 11, 2004 in Santana do Ipanema, Alagoas, was sent back to the police for additional action; the new regional chief said that the case is being kept confidential, but that there has been progress.
WHEREAS,
In the majority of crimes against the press, authorities identify and punish intermediaries and the killers, but not the instigators of the crime; the accused, particularly those who enjoy a privileged position, utilize all means available under law to delay their cases and impede the work of the press; witnesses are afraid to speak; the land borders of Brazil serves as a point of flight for criminals; delays in carrying out investigations and poorly executed investigative work favor the cover-up of evidence; in cities in the interior of Brazil, the pressure on investigators of a crime or a threat against print and broadcast journalists impedes the progress of inquiries, particularly if there are politicians or police officers involved.
WHEREAS,
That Principle 4 of the Declaration of Chapultepec establishes Freedom of expression and of the press are severely limited by murder, terrorism, kidnapping, intimidation, the unjust imprisonment of journalists, the destruction of facilities, violence of any kind and impunity for perpetrators. Such acts must be investigated promptly and punished harshly.
THE IAPA GENERAL ASSEMBLY RESOLVES
To request the Federal Government to investigate the crimes against press professionals be carried out at the federal level, as contemplated in Proposal for a Constitutional Amendment no. 29 of 2000, of the Reform of the Judiciary, which the National Congress promulgated on December 8, 2004, so that there will be no pressure on prosecutors or police officers charged with investigation and witnesses;
To call for improvement in the Programs for the Protection of Witnesses and families of victims;
To demand the police and the legal system to identify, try, and punish those who order crimes committed, and not just the intermediaries or shooters.
To demand greater efforts in the investigation of attacks and threats intended to intimidate the press, such as abductions and torture of journalists, or shots taken against media buildings;
To call for strengthening of the policing of borders and a more efficient system to control the capture of those who have fled;
To request, especially of the governments of the States of Alagoas, Mato Grosso do Sul, Bahia, and Rondônia, to take up again, in an effective manner, investigations of the cases of Jorge Lourenço dos Santos, Edgar Lopes de Faria, Ivan Rocha and Nivanuildo Barbosa Lima so that the guilty parties may be punished.
To request the return of the specialist to the Investigation Support Group of the Center for Inquiries of the Prosecutors Office of Niterói, so that investigations into the case of Reinaldo Coputinho da Silva and other murders that were in the clarification stage can be concluded without external pressures.
To ask the Federal Police, state police forces, governors, and the federal Prosecutors Office for guarantees and protection of journalists so that they may do their work.
To demand public access to public documents, inquiries, and investigations of municipal, state and federal governments.
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