COMMITTEE ON ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND CULTURAL RIGHTS CONSIDERS REPORT OF BRAZIL
The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights has considered the second periodic report of Brazil, on how that country implements the provisions of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.
Introducing the report, Paulo de Tarso Vannuchi, Minister in Chief of the Special Secretariat for Human Rights of the Presidency of the Republic, said the personal life of President Lula showed the most important parts in the recent history of the Nation. It was an emblematic path of the victorious fight in a country for civil and political rights, against the dictatorial regime that lasted 21 years. There was a need to tackle crises that periodically broke over developing countries due to irresponsible administrators and crimes committed in financial institutions in wealthy countries which forced the entire world to bear the price of such actions. Brazil was a country of paradox, combining a strong thrust towards democracy with its inheritance of violence. Brazil was convinced it was on the right path to achieve equality, justice and freedom.
Among questions and issues raised by Committee Experts were what the Minister in Chief of the Special Secretariat for Human Rights of the Presidency actually did, what was the nature of his work and his mandate, in order to serve as a model for other countries; what was the actual status of the Covenant and the need to make this more coherent; whether the policies aimed at increasing the enjoyment of the right to work for indigenous people were exclusively for those living in tribal settlements, and whether they were available for those living outside these settlements, and whether there were studies indicating that they suffered from discrimination in seeking employment; what policies were being drawn up or rolled out to tackle drug consumption and whether the focus was on making it a penal issue or a health issue; and what measures were being taken by the Government to bridge gaps and improve the level of scholarisation for the population as a whole, in particular with regards to illiteracy, which was very high.
In concluding remarks, Mr. Vannuchi said this had been a process of democratic learning at the national level, involving a large number of Ministries. Brazil was still in a process of consolidating its democracy, and wished to highlight important aspects on that path. There were public policies that were insufficient and could contain mistakes, and Brazil was sure that recognising this was the right path towards human rights and their enjoyment and the creation of a sentiment of democracy and pluralism. Brazil had a history of almost five centuries of high concentration of income, and an inheritance of violence, and in only two decades of reconstruction of democracy there were already excellent results proved in the construction of a system of protection of human rights.
Also among the delegation of Brazil were representatives of the National Institute for Colonisation and Land Reform, the Ministry of Social Development and Combating Hunger, the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Social Welfare, the Ministry of Health, the National Indigenous Foundation, the Institute of Applied Economic Research, the Ministry of Labour, the Special Secretariat of Policies for Women, the Ministry of Cities, the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of External Relations, and the Permanent Mission of Brazil to the United Nations Office at Geneva.
The next meeting of the Committee will be at 10 a.m. on Friday, 8 May, when it will take up the fourth and fifth periodic reports of Cyprus (E/C.12/CYP/5).
Report of Brazil
The second periodic report of Brazil (E/C.12/BRA/2) notes that Brazil's social policies have yielded significant results and decisively contributed to the population's improved living conditions and welfare. But despite improvements, the country is far from achieving social indicators that would make it one of the developed countries. Institutional additions by the Federal Executive Branch show that the Brazilian State's commitment to the effective realization of human rights is overcoming partisan political barriers and the limitations of a president's term in office, thereby demonstrating that the human rights policy is a State policy and not a government initiative. The Council on the Defense of the Rights of the Human Person this year marks its 45th anniversary in promoting human rights through measures aimed at preventing, correcting, redressing, and punishing behaviour and situations of violations. Since the introduction of the National Human Rights Programme in 1996, the Council has played an active role in dealing with some particularly serious cases of rights violations.
With respect to economic, social, and cultural rights, Art. 6 of the Brazilian Constitution guarantees the right to education, health, work, housing, leisure, security, social welfare, as well as to the protection of motherhood and the child, and assistance to the destitute. Arts. 7-11 list the rights of workers. The Constitution also devotes specific titles to the Social and the Economic Orders, of which these rights are pillars. There are also specific provisions on the exercise of cultural rights. The Brazilian Constitution prescribes various proceeding instruments for ensuring the enforcement of economic, social, and cultural rights. There are several programmes aimed at improving the living conditions of autochthonous peoples. An indication of this is the fact that the Brazilian indigenous population has grown significantly in recent years. This increase is a sign that policies aimed at indigenous peoples are yielding positive results, triggering, since 1955, a population increase of over 350 per cent, at a yearly average of 3 per cent to 5 per cent, a higher rate than the national average among non-Indians. Despite the several advances, many indigenous groups still live in highly vulnerable conditions.
Preserving equality requires the prohibition of discrimination as to race, ethnic background, and sexual orientation and toward persons with deficiency, the elderly, convicts, and foreigners, and the Brazilian State has adopted positive steps to encourage the specification of individual rights, although violations connected with discrimination persist. The rights of the child and the adolescent are safeguarded by normative provisions that treat them as persons at a developmental stage. Art. 227 of the Federal Constitution makes it incumbent upon the family, society, and the State to ensure the rights of the child and the adolescent to life, health, food, education, leisure, vocational training, culture, dignity, respect, freedom, and family and community life. Although provided for in the Brazilian legal framework, gender equality in entitlement to rights and obligations still remains to be achieved by Brazilian society. As regards economic, social, and cultural rights, although women in general have a higher educational level than men, they are still concentrated in less attractive jobs and receive lower pay and social protection, and the issue of domestic violence has a heavy impact on the lives of women.
Presentation of Report
PAULO DE TARSO VANNUCHI, Minister in Chief of the Special Secretariat for Human Rights of the Presidency of Brazil, said the personal life of President Lula showed the most important parts in the recent history of the Nation. It was an emblematic path of the victorious fight in a country for civil and political rights, against the dictatorial regime that lasted 21 years. There was a need to tackle crises that periodically broke over developing countries due to irresponsible administrators and crimes committed in financial institutions in wealthy countries which forced the entire world to bear the price of such actions. As a positive element of the current situation with respect to economic, social and cultural rights, under the current Presidency, a revolutionary project called Hunger Zero had been created and had been rolled out in all municipalities, guaranteeing basic nutrition for 11.1 million families. By December 2009 12.9 million families would be included, covering all Brazilians in a situation of extreme poverty.
Between 2002 and 2007, the number of people in situations of poverty had shrunk from 43 per cent to 30 per cent. Despite these successes, the Brazilian State recognised that there persisted undeniable violations of rights, given the relatively short lifespan of democracy in the country due to centuries of colonisation followed by a system of economic and political dominance by land-holding family elites. The history of violation of human rights had left a mark on Brazilian society, which had weighed heavy. This included the extermination of the indigenous population, and the introduction of slavery and slaves by the European coloniser, which had negative and long-lasting effects on society. Brazil suffered from serious regional inequalities; to correct this imbalance, a series of public policies and mechanisms had been tried since the return to democracy, and programmes had been launched to reduce these inequalities, which focused on, among other targets, the reduction of infant mortality and of illiteracy, and encouraging people to engage in family farming and to register births.
The Brazilian Government shared the opinion expressed by various civil society organizations that there was still a great deal to do to achieve progress and ensure the full respect of economic, social and cultural rights in the country. Establishing these rights for the population and drawing up public policies would not automatically result in a concrete improvement, a culture of peace and respect for the dignity of the person. Many of the statements made on violence in Brazil and the criminalisation of social movements were pertinent, and had encouraged the Government to take corrective action. Brazil was a country of paradox, combining a strong thrust towards democracy with its inheritance of violence. On the other hand, there was today an emerging economy, and Brazil had a leading role to play in the production of foodstuffs and renewable energies. The Brazilian President was recognised worldwide as a strong leader, determined to combat poverty and hunger worldwide. Brazil was convinced it was on the right path to achieve equality, justice and freedom.
Questions by Experts on Articles one to five of the Covenant on the right to self-determination; the obligation of States Parties to achieve progressively the full realisation of the rights in the Covenant; the equal right of men and women to enjoy economic, social and cultural rights; the limitation of these rights for the purpose of promoting general welfare; and the prohibition of limitation of any rights under the pretext of them not being recognised in the Covenant.
Taking up these articles of the Covenant, Experts raised a number of questions and issues, including what had the Government done, what did it intend to do, and could it provide disaggregated data on the issue of the provision of public defenders for those who were presently excluded from access to justice; the apparent culture of impunity with regards to the investigation of reports of human rights violations and crimes and that redress was not being granted by the Courts and why was this not being remedied and whether it was due to the lack of human rights training; the situation of human rights defenders, who had no faith in the judiciary and why were crimes against these not being investigated; what the Minister in Chief of the Special Secretariat for Human Rights of the Presidency actually did, what was the nature of his work and his mandate, in order to serve as a model for other countries; what was the actual status of the Covenant and the need to make this more coherent; a request for references to cases handled by the Human Rights Commission and whether their decisions were binding; the need for coherent statistics regarding the indigenous population, as figures did not match and why there was such a huge divergence; what measures were being taken to improve the situation of child education and whether coercive measures were being considered; and whether the agencies of the Government which were responsible for carrying out indigenous policy were only responsible for those living in tribes, and if the ones living outside the tribes were excluded from the benefits of affirmative action policies on the indigenous.
Response by Delegation
Responding to these questions and others, Mr. Vannuchi said there were two different stages of human rights - the old stage where there was a denial of human rights violations, and a new one, under development, which showed differences in approach, searching for a path of justice and equality. The dialogue here, which was made of truth, would help in aiding to find the path of truth. There was no longer a dictatorship in Brazil, nor was there torture of political prisoners, genocide of indigenous, and institutionalised human rights violations. The first ten years of democracy had been really concerned with the themes of political transition, and the fear of relapsing into the past. Brazil was still in need of consolidation where the new could be differentiated from the past.
The right to access to justice, the delegation said, was provided in the Constitution as a right, with free judicial assistance to be offered by the State. There would shortly only be two States without such services, and the Federal Government had tripled the number of public defenders from one hundred to three hundred and fifty. Diagnostics for the public defenders had been carried out, ensuring their growth and assessing how people were served by these services. The Government had signed in April a Covenant for a more effective, accessible, fast Justice system. Prisoners who had no assistance and women sufferers of domestic violence were considered as a priority, and centres for their assistance had been set up, which also worked to improve knowledge of rights.
The Lula Presidency sought dialogue with the United Nations Special Rapporteurs, Mr. Vannuchi said, and maintained special relationships with all Special Rapporteurs who had visited Brazil, as shown by the recent visit of the rapporteaur on indigenous people and the coming visit of the one on slavery. In this context, their recommendations were being implemented by the Government. The criminalisation of civil movements was a theme that had grown in Brazil, and this was a difficulty for many countries with regards to the balance of control of three different Republican powers which characterised democracy and the Federal system. In the Brazilian system, all were followers in terms of Brazilian law.
The delegation said with regards to the National Programme of Protection for human rights defenders, that was established in 2004 based in United Nations resolutions, Brazil had learned about other programmes in other countries on how they led with the protection and promotion of human rights defenders. One of the challenges was development of the network of protection. Today the Programme was present in four States, and was being expanded to three more, and included a process of training the State police and the armed forces. President Lula signed in December a law which reinforced the Programme. It was being examined by the legislative power. While the process of consultation with civil society which led to the XI National Conference on Human Rights had been held in 2008, a lot had been considered on the defence of human rights defenders, and this would be reflected in the Third Programme on Human Rights, which was in a process of consolidation before being presented.
With regards to impunity and faith in the judiciary, Mr. Vannuchi said that Constitituional changes introduced by the Government and training in human rights sought to reinforce education in human rights so that the judiciary had regular exposure to the issue. There was a need for long-term investment to create a clearer and more consistent system in the judiciary to interrupt the system of morosity that was visible today. The Special Secretariat for Human Rights was the means that Brazil had created based on its interpretations of the recommendations issued from the Vienna Conference of 1993. It was initially linked to the Ministry of Justice, and in 2003 President Lula had created it with Ministerial Status. It had oversight of a large number of policies, and was viewed by civil society movements as a positive step that had to be preserved and funded. Brazil had created the national human rights programme in 1996, and was one of the first countries to do so. In 2002, it was updated, with the second version being coherent with civil and political rights and economic, social and cultural rights, and right now consultations were being held in order to launch a third version.
With regards to the theme of gays and lesbians, that was a social sector which had a great power of intervention. The Government was aware that it encompassed the issue of religious questions and different cultures which reflected Brazilian cultures. There were still homophobic practices which impeded the rights of some to enjoy their sexual orientation. The role of Brazil was to recognise internationally this issue, Mr. Vannuchi said, and it had sought to do so in the Organization of American States and in the United Nations so that the Brazilian experience could help to overcome situations where legally there was criminalisation of the right to sexual diversity. The High Commissioner had recently visited Brazil and opened a national seminar on human rights indicators with the focus of building Brazil a regular system with a dialogue that already existed in MERCOSUR to coordinate different areas of human rights, including children, teenagers, health, protection of mothers and children, education, and birth registry. Brazil developed operations with African countries to transfer these experiences and help to fight situations in countries where these were bigger problems than in Brazil. With relation to the rights of persons with disabilities and child labour, there were indices.
The delegation said Brazil possessed a statistical national service that carried out a census every ten years, and this had shown 540,000 indigenous at the last one in 2000. Since then, estimates were 750,000 indigenous. Brazil worked on a basis of self-identification. At the next census, in 2010, clearer figures would be obtained. Given the diversity of the indigenous populations, they had a range of different situations. There were 68 isolated peoples in Brazil. To talk about their health situation was thus very difficult - it was easier to calculate infant mortality than life expectancy. There was a group which dealt with health, and carried out important work on the collection of information. However, given the great rise of the indigenous population, it was very hard to assess the situation. The great majority of the indigenous population was under the age of twenty. The indigenous population was much smaller than the black population. It was important to explain that the Brazilian population as a whole was served by a unique health system, and the Indians in settlements were serviced by special indigenous health centres, and those in rural and urban areas were served by the unique health system.
There was a lack of statistics with regards to indigenous people, in particular with regards to disaggregated data, Mr. Vannuchi said. With regards to the educational system, the delegation said that there was 30 per cent in the public sector, and 70 per cent in the private sector. The public sector had a programme called University For All, which was geared towards the poorest students who could not pay for private education, and it included affirmative action towards Afro-descendants, and there was a strategy to support their entry into higher education, mainly through scholarships. Afro-descendants were a large part of the population. With regards to public University education, these also adopted affirmative action for Afro-descendants and the indigenous.
The Secretariat for Women had taken measures to enhance the participation of women in public office, the delegation said. In 2008, the Union of Women in Politics had been created to empower and encourage more women to participate in politics. In 2009, a campaign had been instituted to encourage women in decision-making and in the judiciary, as well as at State and Federal levels. The strategy for the Zero Hunger programme was made up of actions by many Ministries - there was a food for families programme, an education programme, a teenager programme, but the most important programme for the strategy was called Family Grant, and this salary had three aspects: the transfer of income; the conditionalities of health and education, helping with the eradication of the cycle of poverty; and the emancipation of families who qualified professionally and generated income. This programme benefited 40 million people because its methodology was so broad and was present in all 5,560 municipalities, with the strong investment of the Government.
Eighty-five per cent of poverty was in urban areas, creating a picture of inequality, the delegation said. The Brazilian State was carrying out actions trying to reverse this situation, including the urbanisation of favelas and working to diminish social and economic inequality in urban areas. It was also facilitating the access to low-income housing. The country had gone through twenty years without investment in social sanitation, and the Government was seeking to reverse this by investing billions of reals through a programme of accelerated improvement, working to improve sewerage and directly benefiting families in this way. The Government had dedicated efforts to ensure that low-income populations and communities had better access to transportation, public infrastructure, urban mobility, and other improvements.
Questions by Experts on Articles six to nine, on the right to work; the right to decent work; the right to form or join trade unions and the right to strike; and the right to social security
Taking up these articles, Committee Experts raised, among other questions and issues, what was being done with regards to access to work, and whether statistics could be provided on access to work based on ethnic origin; what specific measures and plans of action existed to help families so that children could go to school rather than work; black-listing of trade unionists, which had dramatic consequences on the employment chances of those persons; whether the policies aimed at increasing the enjoyment of the right to work for indigenous people were exclusively for those living in tribal settlements, and whether they were available for those living outside these settlements, and whether there were studies indicating that they suffered from discrimination in seeking employment; what steps were being taken to ensure that all workers, in particular domestic workers, had documents that gave them adequate protection, and whether delinquent employers were prosecuted for repeat offences or simply subjected to a modest financial fine; what measures were contemplated to effectively bring workers in the informal sector into the social security system; had the situation of domestic violence improved recently, and if so to what degree; and issues related to the lack of further progress in eliminating forced labour.
Response by Delegation
Responding to these questions and others, the delegation said that with regards to domestic violence and forced labour, the inequalities in the labour market were a situation that existed but had been changing over the last years. A majority of women were economically active, reaching 58.8 per cent of women in employment in 2007, during which time male activity decreased. In relation to domestic violence, there had been a substantial improvement thanks to a specific law that was brought in to combat this phenomenon. However, there was still no data on the extent of this improvement. Additional services had been created to assist women victims of domestic violence, and 86 per cent of the population were aware of the law and were aware of its importance. There had been an increase in reporting of cases and women seeking assistance. With regards to slave labour, Mr. Vannuchi said that efforts had been made to eradicate this. For many years, civil society organizations had estimated at 25,000 the number of workers in conditions of forced labour. There were two National Pacts against forced labour, involving 170 companies which subscribed to a compromise document to eradicate the purchase of any product that was reported to be created by slave labour at any point in the chain of production.
With regards to discrimination based on colour or race, research carried out in 25 States over a number of years found 1,050 reports and 650 police investigations were carried out, resulting in 394 investigations, and one found guilty so far, the delegation said. Other research concerning the state of Sao Paulo indicated that 44 were found guilty for the crime of racism under Federal Law 7716/89 from 1989-2000. Today, more and more, there were investigations and prosecutions for racial crimes, far more than before. This did not mean that racism had increased, but that people were not afraid of taking this to the justice system and seeking redress. In the last decade there was a reduction of 60 per cent of child labour in Brazil, with eradication in the formal sector due to efforts by the Government, monitoring by local police stations, and other efforts. Child labour between five and nine years of age would be eradicated over the next years. There were still 2,500,000 children in labour, mostly teenagers, and the Government was working on a new National Plan, in collaboration with the International Labour Organization, to focus on street children, children in domestic labour, and family workers in agricultural areas, which had increased child labour. Children did go to school, but continued to work, indicating that there was a need to invest further. It was important to increase the age bracket for school attendance, and this was already under discussion.
There was an assistance of a minumum salary paid to those over 65 and the disabled which were verified as in poverty , the delegation said. With regards to retirement, the benefit could be suspended if social conditions improved from when the individual entered the programme. With regards to the blacklisting of trade unionists, Mr. Vannuchi said this issue was not a subject that had the importance that it used to have in the 1980's. However, he would take up the issue with the Ministry of Labour on his return to Brazil. There were free trade unions which would not accept any registration with the Ministry for reasons of doctrine, which was a tradition in Brazil. The Ministry of Labour had created a minimum system to verify registration with a trade union in order to combat petty and organised crime. The trade unions in Brazil valued the ample freedom of registration that was available to them.
Due to a policy to increase the minimum wage and to create incomes for low-income families, the delegation said that there was an anti-cyclical effect. The poorest segment of the population saw an increase in their income over the last years. In relation to the population of African descent, they had a high unemployment rate - 9.3 per cent. They took jobs that were less advantaged like agriculture, civil construction and domestic employment. The Black population was also a majority of those who were not renumerated, and were more exposed than the White population in terms of social welfare. Fifty per cent of those without registration in work were Black, and they only received 53 per cent of the income of a White person. . There were still a lot of inequalities in the regions, but this was decreasing. From 2002-2008, four million workers had their work regulated through fiscalisation, which fought against informal work. There was a proposal with regards to the Ministries involved to have a special temporary rule to fight against informal work.
With regards to the National Rapporteurs, they were from civil society organizations, and in the Federal Government they had open access to present or demand the investigation of any issue, Mr. Vannuchi said, and they were independent. All their reports were taken into consideration to try to achieve the issue and overcome difficulties. With regards to indigenous work, Brazil had no statistics - it was a segment which had profound transformations. Around 270,000 indigenous were believed to live outside settlements, and the Government was working with the Rapporteurs to improve these statistics. With regards to women's participation in politics, there were developments, mainly due to the changes in electoral laws, which required that women made up at least one third of their parties. Unfortunately, the results of elections still did not represent this, and the number of women was still under 10 per cent, although it was growing, as it was in other sectors such as the judiciary, but it was still far from being half-and-half, as it should be. Brazil did wish for simultaneous growth with distribution of income, but it was too far from the required standard. Brazil was still working on this path to equality and national issues with regards to education (as more than a half of the students enrolled in universities are women) and eradication of illiteracy were aiding progress. Registration of birth and family agriculture were the priority of President Lula until the summer of 2010.
Responding to follow-up questions on a range of topics, Mr. Vannuchi said there were plans to provide the national environment for growth without any increase of inequality, with harmony to increase the social indicators. Brazil had started a process to reverse the patterns of inequality, and there was still a need to work in a systematic manner with regards to the recent credit crunch, which could impact Brazil, and statistics were starting to reveal that Brazil was recovering already, with encouraging indicators. There was a programme to build one million houses, and this was a major answer to the sub-prime and financial crisis that President Lula had announced. With regards to strikes, the delegation said the right to strike was only regulated in the private sector, but in relation to the public sector, the Constitutional Court had recently issued a decision that there was no specific law, and that regulations of the private sector should apply to public service. However, the National Congress had not upheld this yet.
The judiciary in many States was well-balanced with regards to representation of women, the delegation said, and in the last elections to state governor three women had been elected, and there were also two women in the High Court. There was a great investment in growth and in employment in the formal market, but there was also a big investment in protection of social welfare. In 2004, a law had been promulgated on family income, aiming to create a basic income for all the population. This required a vast basic investment. With regards to affirmative action for afro-descendents, the Statute on Racial Equality would be voted on in May 2009 to fight these inequalities at all fields, including work.
Questions by Experts on articles ten to twelve, on protection of the family, mothers and children; the right to an adequate standard of living including adequate food, clothing and housing; and the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
Experts then raised a number of questions and issues, including the need to publicise issues related to maternal mortality, and whether the actual situation had improved as it indicated a lack of health protection for mothers; what was being done in relation to health education in the field of reproductive health, particularly in the context of the large number of unnecessary Caesarean deliveries; why only two internationally recognised criteria for legitimate abortion were granted in Brazil and whether there were any changes planned in this regard; what was being done to improve access to medical care for particularly disadvantaged groups such as HIV/AIDS-sufferers and street children; issues related to the protection of intellectual property rights; what policies were being drawn up or rolled out to tackle drug consumption and whether the focus was on making it a penal issue or a health issue; issues related to the mistreatment of individuals in police stations and what was being done in this regard from a health perspective; what policies or what moves were being made to tackle the extremely high number of illegal abortions; what was being done to provide social services to the homeless, in particular those who were harassed or faced violence from public officials; the need to assist the disadvantaged and marginalised individuals and groups to obtain housing when the right to housing was not justiciable; and whether the growth of genetically-modified crops would continue and be further encouraged.
Questions by Experts under articles thirteen to fifteen, on the right to education; compulsory free education; and the right to take part in cultural life, and to enjoy the benefits of scientific progress and its applications
Experts then raised a number of questions and issues including, among other things, issues related to the high-level of high-school dropouts, particularly among Afro-descendants, the indigenous, and those in remote regions, but not the White population, and how could this phenomenon be explained; whether there was a specific programme for encouraging the cultural diversity of each specific community; what measures were being taken by the Government to bridge gaps and improve the level of scholarisation for the population as a whole, in particular with regards to illiteracy, which was very high; how could the large disparity within the education system be explained as it should in theory prepare students for the labour market but some categories of the population were not prepared as they should be; what facilities were available for adult and continuing education, in particular for illiterate adults; were there grants and specific programmes to give indigenous peoples free access to University education; and how was religious education being handled in Brazil, not only for mainstream religions but also for minority religions, and whether there was a policy on this issue.
Response by Delegation
Responding to these questions and issues and others, the delegation said in relation to infant mortality, Brazil had already achieved one of the Millennium Development Goals in this regard, in order to reduce this rate, as it had one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the world. The Government had taken this up as an issue since 2004, and had created a group made up of scholars, members of civil society, and members of local Government to organise actions to reduce these rates. One of the actions in this context was the Committee on Maternal Mortality, which dealt with the results of actions to reduce maternal mortality since 2006. The number of registered deaths of women in childbirth would no doubt increase, as there was under-registration of this. The data on mortality was processed by a system belonging to the Ministry of Health, and data available related to 2006 - there was no consolidated data for 2007 nor 2008, but there was data on deaths occurring in hospitals, but this did not express the Brazilian reality. Today there were 27 mortality Committees which covered all Brazilian States. Compulsory notification was enforced, and deaths must be investigated within 180 days.
In relation to territories covered by the health system, it was present in the whole territory but with inequalities, offering more services to the regions of socio-economic development. In other regions, there should be specific actions to reduce child deaths, in particular with regard to follow-up of mothers during pregnancy, and assistance during and after the birth. Ninety-eight per cent of births were carried out in hospitals, and there was increased training of midwives to act in the community. Abortion was considered legal in Brazil only in the case of rape and risk of death to the mother. The Ministry of Health was in favour of a public debate on this matter, with the aim of expanding the rights of women in relation to their choice to interrupt their pregnancy, the delegation said. Abortion was not an issue for the Ministry, it was an issue for national legislation, although the Ministry supported a debate on the topic, and provided services to women who were legally covered for abortion. There were forty-four centres who provided this service - there were only four States which did not do so. Incest was considered rape in Brazilian legislation, and was therefore a crime, and a woman victim of incest was covered by the law regulating abortion.
In 2004, 3 million children were born in Brazil - over 26,000 from young mothers. Brazil, through the Ministry of Health and Education, had implemented a programme in schools which had as a background not birth control but the assertion of sexual and reproductive rights for young women, distributing condoms in schools so that girls and boys could exercise their sexual rights safely. One of the components of maternal mortality was the training of the professionals involved, and the Ministry of Health had a programme for the formation and training of these professionals. The national HIV/AIDS programme made available diagnosis and treatment for all those diagnosed as HIV-positive. In relation to drugs and alcohol, the Ministry of Health understood that their abuse was a public health problem, and had, during the 1990s, reformed the whole psychiatric system, introducing an outpatient approach for people with mental disfunctions and drug addiction problems. Today in the country there were 1,323 Assistance Centres with multi-disciplinary teams and a number of these were specialised Centres which dealt with drug addiction. There was as yet no legislation banning cigarettes in public places, but some States had taken the initiative on their own, the delegation said.
With regards to access to medication, Brazil was a big buyer and producer of medication. From an international perspective, Brazil had always been and remained favourable to the implementation of TRIPS (Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights) with the Durban Declaration on TRIPS and Public Health exceptions. There was a range of modern and up-to-date laws in Brazil on the environment and on the provision of basic services to families. There was a sustainable programme in the Amazon providing credit and access to land, and these business models were supported in order to combat deforestation, the delegation said. With regards to water, the public policy for urban areas was for action to manage solid waste and river waters. Brazil had achieved development in this sector - $ 10 billion had been devoted to this sector, and these investments had been concentrated in cities, where the results had been significant. The Brazilian Constitution stated that the Union, States, municipalities and Federal districts had common competence in respect of housing, and funds concentrated all their interest on housing, mainly for the benefit of those with low incomes. Twenty-three billion dollars had been invested in housing, and of this total 80 per cent had been directed to families with an income between zero and five salaries.
The last study by the Government noted that it lacked housing for 7.6 million families, the delegation said, especially those with income up to three minimum salaries. The accelerated growth programme pack was aimed towards easing this situation of dearth of housing. On urban conflict, the State was aware of these conflicts, and adopted measures to resolve these or contain them, or at least bring balance to them. The State had to, according to the Constitution, safeguard ownership and private property but it foresaw the social function of property. This was reflected in the countryside as well. The Government aimed to arbitrate in the conflict in society, and the judiciary also had a role to play by adopting measures that aimed to judge in accordance to laws and rules. The most important matter to do with these conflicts was to find a solution to evictions, which needed to be significantly reduced. The inadequacy of existing housing remained a problem. Another measure adopted was in partnership with civil society, and the National Civil Council worked in this, with the participation of a large number of stakeholders, including business.
The reduction of poverty had been greater than the number of the population as a whole, the delegation said, and in 1997, 83 per cent of Afro-Descendents from rural areas were poor. In 2007, only 42 per cent were poor, which was only slightly higher than the population as a whole. With regards to Whites, the number were 30.1 per cent and 19.5 per cent. On deforestation, in 1997, Brazil deforested an area of 18,000 square kilometres - in 2002 this was 21,400, in 2008 only 11,000 square kilometres, so there had been a serious reduction in this phenomenon. There remained an environmental problem in this regard, but it was not due to any great speed, as this was decelerating. Brazil had a goal to keep reducing poverty during the financial crisis, aiming to continue to improve inequality. In relation to the homeless, the latest research showed 370,000 adults living on the streets, namely 0.2 per cent of the population. This population was served through reference centres, in particular in the big capitals and larger towns. These people had not been abandoned, and Brazil attached importance to creating an instrument of protection and access to public policy in their regard. Of the six million people that were excluded from social programs, important actions were being undertaken to cover them through the basic registration of the population that was being sought. There was a large inter-Ministerial group which sought to serve the homeless population, including education, health, and others, and it had met with the President who was fully committed to the cause of the homeless.
Brazil had a great programme to distribute income, with a vast scale to cover one quarter of the population. However, the programme had its limitations, the delegation said. Brazil had implemented a unique system for public welfare. There were around 4,000 centres in Brazil that were to the welfare system what schools were to education and hospitals to health. The target of the programme right now was to serve 13 million families, and this was almost reached today. The problem with the budgeting was that when the report was produced there had been a great discussion in the Government on the impact of the financial crisis, and therefore it had not been clear how many resources would be available to expand the programme. However, since 1 March 2009, the resources to do so had been made available.
With regards to street children, the estimation was circa 25,000. Research in some capitals had identified that 80 per cent of these children had family relationships and went back to their families at night or at some point. This had implications with regards to the management of the problem, as they could not then be fully taken over by the State. Only 20 per cent had absolutely no family relationship and were living entirely on the street, and this was much less than 0,008 per cent of the children living in Brazil. Sixty per cent of teenagers went to the streets - it was not a problem with poverty alone, but also one with domestic violence. These children were also aided by the National Programme on Child Labour, which had reported some recent progress. The National Council had approved a first census, responding to a demand of civil society, of street children, the delegation said. With regards to sexual violations, Brazil was one of the first countries to have a national plan based on the Stockholm Pact, and during the first mandate of President Lula, he had made one of his main priorities to eradicate the sexual exploitation of the children of Brazil. With regards to education and training of teachers, paedophilia on the Internet was a particular problem, and Brazil had a hotline to receive reports and was cooperating with NGOs in this regard, as well as having a Commission of Inquiry which aimed to ensure faster access to violators of these rights in cooperation with Internet Service Providers.
A law had created a specific type of crime in the Penal Code which dealt with injury to a woman in her domestic environment, and this could be punished by up to three years in prison, the delegation said. This law also set out the types of domestic violence, not only physical, but also psychological, sexual, and moral. The woman could not renounce the reporting of this crime other than in front of a judge. Protective measures were aside from this process, and aimed to preserve the physical integrity of women and children. The law also set out that in case domestic violence was committed against women with physical difficulties, the tariff was increased by one third. In basic education in Brazil, there were fifty-three million students, with two million teachers. There was attendance of 70.7 per cent of those under seven years. Accessibility was effective, but there was a challenge of quality, as well as a challenge with regards to attendance, in particular with regards to students between the age of 15 and 17. However, the policy of universalisation of education had shown an improvement of educators over the last years. Basic education now had a requirement of nine years, and this was an improvement over the historical target, although there was still a need to improve. There were also improvements with regards to Afro-descendants and those living in poverty. There was a professional system of work education, with the building of technical schools for youngsters at medium level, and there had been a significant increase in the number of polytechnics.
The Constitution highlighted that religious education was foressen in the legislation as a non compulsory subject since the State is laic, and could be part of public education, respecting the diversity of different religions in Brazil, the delegation said. With regards to the protection of the environment, climate change, the protection of indigenous peoples and the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People, in Brazil there were 220 recognised people that inhabited 653 reservations, totalling 107 million hectares. The land of the indigenous was about 13 per cent of the national territory, comparatively twice as big as France. The demarcation of indigenous land was recognised by the Constitution and by a broad Constitutional Declaration. For the protection of indigenous land, there was the National Indian Foundation, the federal police, the judiciary police, and a public Ministry with the task of defending indigenous land. With regards to environmental rights of the indigenous peoples, these were evaluated by the Federal Courts as a specialised forum. The activities of the State in the environmental field were being done to protect the indigenous peoples, and these included the demarcation of land with the protection of the State of the indigenous land, and this was an important step to protect their land and environment.
There was a national health plan in prisons, and 18 States were participating, the delegation said, and this protected the prisoners against sexually-transmitted diseases, tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS, and other forms of disease. The Government also had a national programme through the Ministry of Justice to protect citizens against being abused by the forces of order and which fought violence, combining with social policies. With regards to torture and other violations, there was training and courses on the prevention of violations and on human rights for the police, and prisoners were taught their rights and what to do in cases of violation of these. The judiciary was enabled to take care of arbitration in this regard.
Responding to brief follow-up questions, the delegation said the Ministry of Health guaranteed access to contraceptives for men and women, and also provided sexual health classes. The number of men looking for vasectomies had decreased significantly, and the number of women sterilised had increased, as had the number of women using oral contraceptives. With regards to accessibility of indigenous peoples to University education, there was a programme called University for All which aimed to help indigenous peoples and people of African descent, providing scholarships.
Concluding Remarks
PAULO DE TARSO VANNUCHI, Minister in Chief of the Special Secretariat of Human Rights of the Presidency of the Republic, said this had been a process of democratic learning at the national level, involving a large number of Ministries. The delegation was certain it had heard questions and assessments which were important, and would take them back to be considered, in particular to improve the exchange and dialogue between the Government and other organizations of human rights defence. The report would be a guideline for Brazilian politics over the next years. Brazil acknowledged the importance of the information given by civil society, as evidenced in the questions by the Experts. Brazil was still in a process of consolidating its democracy, and wished to highlight important aspects on that path. There were public policies that were insufficient and could contain mistakes, and Brazil was sure that recognising this was the right path towards human rights and their enjoyment and the creation of a sentiment of democracy and pluralism. Brazil had a history of high concentration of income, and an inheritance of violence, and in the recent decades of reconstruction of democracy, and there were already excellent results proved in the construction of a system of protection of human rights. In the first time in Brazilian history, there was a situation in which the income of the poorest had increased far more than had the income of the richest, showing the success of Brazil's programme to decrease poverty and more towards a harmonious, democratic society.
ROCIO BARAHONA RIERA, Chairperson of the Committee, said the President had correctly interpreted the feelings and attitude of the Committee, which wished to express how pleased it had been with the level of the dialogue. This was an ongoing continuous process. The Committee had enjoyed learning about the plans, measures and actions being put in place to ensure and protect human rights in Brazil. The responses in written form, statistics and other data would also be considered by the Committee in its evaluation of the progress of Brazil with regards to economic, social and cultural rights. The size of the team indicated the importance that Brazil gave to human rights.
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