IMPUNITY/BRAZIL

WHEREAS Police officer Mozart Brasil, sentenced to 18 years in prison in September, 2003 for the murder of journalist Manoel Leal de Oliveira in January, 1998, was relieved of his post after a Disciplinary Administrative Procedure held by a commission of the General Review Board of the Police of Bahia, but he remains in a special prison because he appealed the decision; the Inter American Commission on Human Rights, in a friendly agreement made with the Brazilian government sought the reopening of the Oliveira cas so that the persons who ordered the crime may be identified, something that did not occur until March, 2010; according to the agreement made with the IACHR, on April 7, 2010, the Brazilian government will pay compensation to the family of the murdered journalist. WHEREAS The special appeals of the ex-mayor of Eunapolis, Paulo Dapé, and his employees Maria José Ferreira Souza, Waldemir Batista de Oliveira, and Antônio Oliveira Santos, accused of the murder of radio reporter Ronaldo Santana de Araújo on October 9, 1997 in Eunápolis, Bahia, were not accepted by the Superior Court of Justice, they have submitted supplements to the appeals that are being analyzed now at the Federal Supreme Court in Brasilia; Paulo Sérgio Mendes Lima, the only one convicted of the crime, received the benefit of progression of sentence, and taking advantage of the semi-open regimen that allowed him to leave prison during the day, went out for work and never returned, in May, 2008. WHEREAS Maria Bernadete Ferreira de Sousa, Dolival Pereira de Andrade and Maria Deusa Pires da Silva, accused of the murder of radio reporter Jorge Araújo da Costa on March 23, 2001 in Timon, Maranhão, were able to obtain habeus corpus and have their cases dropped in the justice system; the Prosecutor’s Office appealed, but the justices on the Superior Court of Justice (STJ) denied the appeal; the Prosecutor’s Office can still appeal again; the other three accused were tried and convicted on September 29, 2005, but only one of them is in custody because he was also accused of another crime. The others were able to make their appeals while on release. WHEREAS The instigators of the murder of José Carlos Mesquita on March 10, 1998 in Ouro Preto do Oeste, Rondônia have not been identified, and the investigation is practically paralized; in addition, the person who ordered the murder of Mário Coelho de Almeida Filho, on August 16, 2001 in Magé, Rio de Janeiro state, has not been punished. WHEREAS The Prosecutor’s Office of Paulo Afonso, in Bahia has been waiting since June, 2008 for an response to a request to break telephone secrecy in order to be able to continue its investigation into the death of Nivanildo Barbosa Lima, found dead at Paulo Afonso dam on July 22, 1995. WHEREAS The deferring of the investigations into the slaying 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, consolidated impunity in these crimes. WHEREAS Those accused of the murder of Samuel Román in Coronel Sapucaia, Mato Grosso do Sul on April 20, 2004; of Aristeu Guida da Sillva, killed on May 12, 1995 in São Fidélis, Rio de Janeiro; and of Luiz Otávio Monteiro in Manaus, Amazonas on December 29, 1988, remain at large. In the latter case, the person who ordered the crime has not even been identified. WHEREAS In regard to the murder of social columnist Maria Nilce Magalhães on July 5, 1989 in Vitória, Espírito Santo, there are still on-going appeals to be decided and the allegation of insanity by two of the accused has delayed the case of those two. WHEREAS The case against João Arcanjo Ribeiro, the primary person accused of ordering the murder of businessman Domingos Sávio Brandão de Lima on September 30, 2002 in Cuiabá, Mato Grosso has still not been resolved because he has appealed. WHEREAS The investigation of the murder of journalist Reinaldo Coutinho da Silva on August 29, 1995 in São Gonçalo, Rio de Janeiro is still in the hands of the police for further procedures, with risk of its being dropped. WHEREAS The case against appeals judge José Maria Lucena, indicated as the instigator of the murder of radio reporter Nicanor Linhares Batista on June 20, 2003 in Limoeiro do Norte, Ceará, has been postponed several times and there is suspicion of strong pressure on this case; the case continues against his wife, former mayor Maria Arivan de Holanda Lucena, now in the justice system of Limoeiro do Norte. WHEREAS Police officers Paulo César Ronceiro and Edson Luiz Ronceiro, and businessman Carlos Alberto da Costa, are to be tried on March 25, 2010, for the murder of journalist Luiz Carlos Barbon Filho on May 5, 2007 in Porto Ferreira, São Paulo; the widow of the journalist was admitted to the Witness Protection Program due to threats against her; the case against police office Valnei Bertoni was separated from that of the others because of his appeals. WHEREAS The prosecutor charged with investigation of the murder of radio reporter Jorge Lourenço dos Santos, killed on July 11, 2004 in Santana do Ipanema, Alagoas, is studying the possibility of removing the case to the courts of the state capital, at the request of the Prosecutor’s Office, since one of the persons under investigation has become mayor. WHEREAS In most of the crimes, the shooters and middlemen who are arrested have good attorneys generally paid for by the instigators of the crimes, so that they will not talk and name them, thus closing the cycle of impunity; in general, the planners of the crimes remain unpunished and only the shooters and middlemen are caught. WHEREAS There is no efficient system to identify and capture fugitives, such that investigations may identify the guilty, but the crimes remain unresolved. WHEREAS There exist legal mechanisms that make it easy for those accused to avoid, or delay to the maximum, trial and eventual imprisonment. WHEREAS In the present-day penal system, the benefit of progression of sentence is used by criminals to flee. WHEREAS Many investigations have been detained to await procedures, thus favoring criminals; for example, telephone companies may take a long time to release information. WHEREAS Some public agencies make it difficult to obtain information, which makes cases not very transparent and impedes the progress of investigations. WHEREAS Principle 4 of the Declaration of Chapultepec establishes that “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 MID YEAR MEETING OF THE IAPA RESOLVES: To congratulate the government of Bahia for its willingness to comply with the friendly agreement signed with the Inter American Commission on Human Rights by compensating the family of journalist Manoel Leal de Oliveira, murdered in January, 1998, and to request that as another part of the agreement, it reopen the police investigation to identify and punish those who ordered the crime. To request that the cases of journalists who have been murdered or who have disappeared, which had been closed, be reopened and solved. To request that those responsible for the investigation of the murder of journalist Reinaldo Coutinho da Silva in Rio de Janeiro continue their efforts in order to keep the case from becoming one of impunity. To guarantee to judges and prosecutors access to information that they consider crucial for solution of cases of assaults on freedom of the press, with the greatest haste possible and to assure journalists that they may follow these cases under the principle of transparency and public interest. To guarantee practicing journalists access to information from public agencies and freedom to act in a responsible way, especially during election periods. To solicit the Federal Government to guarantee, in actual practice, the federalization of crimes against press professionals to avoid pressure on prosecutors, police personnel, and witnesses. To demand that governments reformulate and improve the system to locate fugitives, intensifying searches and control at land borders and within the country. To request that the benefit of progression of sentence to a semi-open regimen be granted in a more careful manner, since this benefit has led to the flight of criminals. To guarantee full transparency in cases in which the accused have a position of privilege before the courts, and that mechanisms be put in place to avoid pressure on judges and prosecutors over the entire period of investigation and trial.