750 Serious Land Conflicts During 1996
7/10/97
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RELAYED TEXT STARTS HERE:
Subject: 750 serious conflicts during 1996
Date: 10 Jul 1997 16:43:18 -0500 (EST)
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NEWS FROM BRAZIL supplied by SEJUP (Servico Brasileiro de Justica
e Paz).
Number 279, July 10, 1997.
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LAND ISSUES
- 750 serious land conflicts during 1996.
The Pastoral Land Commission (CPT) which is linked to the
Catholic Church published its' annual report on land violence in
Brazil on July 04. The report which presents 1996 figures, shows
that 750 serious land conflicts took place during the year which
included 19 cases of work in slave conditions and 398 cases of
land occupation. The report alerts that this is the highest
number of land conflicts registered since 1989. The number of
conflicts rose by 26% or by a total of 196 from 1995 when 554
such conflicts were registered. The average annual number of land
conflicts between 1991 and 1995 was 494; 1996 figures then show
an increase of 256 (26%) on this average.
A total of 935134 people were involved in the 1996
conflicts. Conflicts increased in all regions of the country and
were distributed as follows: North-east 256; Center-east 153;
South-east 142; North 114 and South 85. The states with most such
conflicts included Para (72 conflicts); Minas Gerais (70); Goias
(67); Bahia (60) and Parana (53). The statistics show that a
trend which started in 1995 continues whereby regions considered
more modernized experienced an increase in conflicts most of
which are occupations by the landless. In more traditional areas
the conflicts are a mixture of disputes over ownership as well as
occupations.
Occupations took place in all regions and states. The only
state where their number did not increase was in the Federal
District. 157 took place in the North-east (an increase of 40%
over 1995); 68 took place in the Center-east (up 17% from 1995);
68 in the South-east (an increase of 17%); 53 in the North (an
increase of 13.3%) and 52 in the South (a 13% increase). On a
state level the largest numbers of occupations were as follows:
40 in Pernambuco; 38 in Sao Paulo; 37 in Parana; 35 in Bahia and
33 in Para. Again on a state level the largest increase in
occupations were in Para, Parana and Rio Grande do Norte; each of
these states had an increase of 26 occupations - from 3 to 29
when 1996 is compared to 1995. Even though press reports during
the year gave the impression that the majority of occupations
took place in three regions - Pontal de Paranapanema (State of
Sao Paulo); the south of the State of Para and the region known
as the Zona da Mata in the North-east, the CPT report shows that
in fact occupations were in fact much more widespread and took
place in all states. 63080 families were involved in the
occupations during 1996 - this is over two times the 1995 figure.
increased by 481490 (33.8%) from 1995 bringing the total number
of people involved to 935134. This represents an increase of 67%
in the average number of people involved in land conflicts in the
1991 to 1995 period. The total area involved in such conflicts
last year increased by 3395657 hectares - a rise of 4.2% since
1995. The CPT reports observes that this shows that more people
were in dispute over smaller areas of land (an average of
approximately 7 hectares). In 1995 this area amounted to
approximately 10 hectares per person.
During 1996, 54 people were assassinated in rural conflicts
- - an increase of 13 on 1995. This included 28 landless rural
workers; 13 land owners without titles (posseiros); 5 ranch
workers and 4 who died as a result of work in slave conditions.
It is interesting to note that for the first time the number of
assassinations of landless surpassed that of the posseiros. The
military police were responsible for the assassination of 19
landless rural workers in the State of Para. In 13 other cases
there is evidence that the assassins were hired gun-men. The
States where the highest number of assassinations took place
were: Para (33); Amazonas (5) and 4 in each of the States of
Maranhao, Mato Grosso and Bahia.
96 assassinations attempts were registered during 1996 as
compared to 71 in the previous year. 29 were made against
landless and 12 against posseiros. 30 took place in the State of
Para; 7 in Parana and 4 in Sao Paulo. 88 death-threats were
registered last year - 21 against posseiros; 19 against landless;
17 against trade union officials and members and 11 against
pastoral agents. In this last category we find one bishop, one
religious and three CPT workers. During 1996, 12 cases of torture
connected with land questions were registered. 1337 houses were
destroyed and 3677 cases of crops destroyed were also registered.
Court orders expelling 17595 rural families were issued.
The CPT has systematically recorded rural violence for the
period between 1985 and 1996. During these years 976 people have
been assassinated because of land conflicts. A further 891
assassination attempts have been registered during the 12 year
period as well as 2500 death-threats. On average then 81.3 people
have been assassinated each year during this period - one person
every 4.5 days. During this period only 56 trials have taken
place when those responsible for such assassinations have been
judged. Currently 5 people are in prison having been found guilty
of one of the above assassinations; a further two condemned have
escaped from jail. ''In the context of such widespread impunity,
which without doubt has been the principal factor in the
perpetuation of violence against rural workers, the State and the
governments, and especially the judicial system system are the
principal culprits'' comments the CPT report.
The report also calls attention to what it considers a
significant event during 1996 - the Supreme Court recognized the
right to struggle for land in the case of a request of habeas
corpus for imprisoned leaders of the Movement of Landless Rural
Workers (MST) in the Pontal de Paranapanema region of the State
of Sao Paulo. Since in this case jurisprudence has been created,
the CPT feels that judges especially in the more isolated regions
of the country will take the legal right to struggle for land
into consideration in their judgments. The CPT report comments
as well the frequently used statement of President Fernando
Henrique Cardoso that ''never was so much done for agrarian
reform as during this government''. It shows that in the first
two years of the present government (1995 and 96) 1304 rural
conflicts were registered involving 1316220 people. 95 rural
workers have been assassinated during this two year period (as
well as a further 17 so far this year). ''If things continue this
way this period could rival the more conflictive years of the
1980s'' concludes the CPT report.
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