COMMITTEE ON ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND CULTURAL RIGHTS CONCLUDES DEBATE ON INITIAL REPORT OF BRAZIL

CESCR
30th session
9 May 2003





The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights today concluded its debate on the initial report of Brazil after hearing a delegation express the new Government's readiness and political will to promote the economic, social and cultural rights of the population.
Responding to questions raised by the Committee Experts, the members of the Brazilian delegation said that following the implementation of a programme against child labour, 800,000 children had been stopped from working. Heavy penalties were envisaged against persons exploiting children economically.
The delegation said that the Government was aware that a serious signal should be sent to those who practised forced and slave-like labour, as more than 25,000 individuals were still subjected to slave labour; the Government had envisaged a new law to severely punish those who exercised forced labour.
Brazil had adequate food reserves in the country but the problem was access to food and justice, the delegation said, adding that the Government was implementing a programme of "Zero Hunger", through which 3.5 million people were benefiting from food grants.
Over the course of the debate, several Committee Experts raised a number of questions on the protection of the family, mothers and children; the right to an adequate standard of living; the right to physical and mental health; the right to education; and the right to take part in cultural life, enjoy the benefits of scientific progress and the protection of intellectual property.
A Representative of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) said that Brazil had an excellent system to ensure the regular flow of public funds to the educational system; and the Constitution of 1988 provided that states and municipalities should invest at least 25 per cent of the tax revenue in education.
The Committee will issue its observations and recommendations on the report of Brazil towards the end of its three-week session, which will conclude on 23 May.
As one of the 146 States parties to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, Brazil is obligated to present periodic reports to the Committee on its compliance with the provisions of the treaty.
When the Committee reconvenes at 10 a.m. on Monday, 12 May, it will take up the second periodic report of New Zealand (E/1990/6/Add.33).

Discussion
Responding to questions raised by Committee Experts during the previous meeting, the delegation said that the Government of Brazil upheld the human rights of its indigenous peoples living in the Amazon forest region. Brazil had conducted a dialogue with its indigenous populations concerning their rights and living conditions in the Amazon forest territories where many of them lived. Issues concerning the environment and indigenous rights had also been frankly discussed with civil society. The present Government did not force any decisions on the indigenous peoples as had been the case with dictatorial authorities in the past.
Some of the parts of the Amazon forest had been burned and violated in the past, the delegation said. At present, the issue of the environment at the Government level was in the hands of an official who, in the past, had fought for the respect of the environment. Plans had been put in place to monitor the environmental conditions of the vast Amazon region, and preventive measures had been taken not to use the territory for drug and wood trafficking. The Government was aware that it should disseminate information on the environmental vegetation of the Amazon. It was also taking precautions that the whole question of economic utilization of the forest should not negatively impact on the environment through the building of dams, highways or bridges, for example.
The former paternalistic way of treating indigenous populations had been replaced by a new constitutional approach, the delegation said. The issue of indigenous rights had been raised at the constitutional level and these rights were guaranteed under the country's Constitution. The territorial demarcation of the indigenous lands was going on. A process of identification of indigenous lands had already been carried out. It was said that 45 per cent of indigenous peoples lived in the Amazon forest region. However, many indigenous peoples also lived in urban areas.
A question was asked if measures were undertaken by the State party to remove non-indigenous persons who had settled in indigenous territories. The delegation said that these persons were connected to mining activities and the Government did not use force to remove them. The invaders of the indigenous lands were using all tactical means to delay their removal from the lands they occupied. The country's Congress was discussing the issue with the view to seeking a democratic solution to the problem.
Brazilian women were not proportionately represented in the country's public affairs despite the fact that they made up 50 per cent of the whole population, the delegation said. For some time now, the situation of women had been changing with women themselves advocating their rights. The issue of sexual and domestic violence was one of Brazil's social problems. A new law against sexual and domestic violence had not yet been adopted. A 1997 law had guaranteed women the right to be elected and political parties were obliged to reserve 30 per cent of their lists for female candidates.
Slave labour was a crime as set forth in Brazil's Criminal Code, the delegation said, adding that the penalty against the offence could vary from 2 to 8 years. The "heinous crimes" stipulated in the Code were interpreted in the text of a new draft law to entail severe penalties against crimes of forced labour.
In follow-up questions, Committee Experts asked, among other things, about landmark cases of forced labour which should be made exemplary; police violence against landless peasants; the situation of marginalized persons; and about the absence of quotas for women and Afro-Brazilians in many areas of Government activities.
In response, the delegation said that the Government was aware that a serious signal should be sent to those who practised forced and slave-like labour. The issue was how to implement follow-up measures against forced labour. The case of an individual who had suffered from slave labour had become a big issue in Brazil and had been addressed by the Inter-American Human Rights Court; he had been awarded compensation. Slave labour mainly took place in rural areas. More than 25,000 persons were believed to be subjected to slave labour in the country.
The Government had been taking affirmative action concerning women and people of African descent, the delegation said. The Government was also aware of the need to strengthen affirmative actions and spread them to all sectors of public affairs, including universities.
Responding to the written questions, the delegation that the minimum wage was far from satisfactory and did not provide a decent standard of living for workers and their families. The new Government was planning to raise the minimum wage with the aim of raising the living standards.
Sexual harassment was a crime under the Criminal Code, the delegation said. Women, particularly Afro-Brazilians, were especially vulnerable to all sorts of prejudices, even in court. Even women at higher posts were susceptible to sexual harassment. However, there was a legal redress for victims of such acts.
Concerning trade union rights, the delegation said that there was a corporative trade union system in the country, and the freedom of forming a union, or adhering to one, was guaranteed under the law. President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who had trade union experience, was giving more attention to trade union freedom in the country.
Responding to follow-up questions raised by Committee Experts, the delegation said that the social security system operated in the same way as in many other countries, with employers and employees contributing to it, the delegation said.
Women often remained silent after suffering from sexual and domestic violence, the delegation said. However, the Government had serious concerns about the situation and preventive measures had been taken by the authorities. There were 300 police stations staffed with officers trained specially to deal with domestic violence.
The Government had set priorities to deal with trafficking in women and children for purposes of commercial sexual exploitation, the delegation said. Boys and girls of different age groups had been victims of sexual exploitation. Black girls were specially targeted by such illegal activities. The special secretariat under the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs was coordinating efforts to fight this scourge. In many cases, parents were reluctant to report crimes committed against their children.
Brazil believed that children should spend their time getting an education at school rather than working illegally, the delegation said. The Government had observed that child labour was wide spread in the country. It was granting scholarships to children in the rural areas, where child labour was visible, as part of measures to reduce child labour.
The social situation in Brazil had resulted in a large number of children living and working on the streets, the delegation said. Measures were envisaged to solve the problem in the near future.
Children up to the age of 12 were not accountable for offences they committed, the delegation said. After 12 years of age, children might be subjected to a certain form of penalty. The problem in dealing with juvenile delinquents was not with the law but in implementing the law.
Homelessness in Brazil was demonstrated by the fact that there were many people living in streets or on bridges, the delegation said. It was estimated that more than 1 million people lived on sidewalks, public squares, or under viaducts. Children in such conditions were vulnerable to violence, including acts of homicide.
Brazil had adequate food in the country but the problem was access to food and justice, the delegation said. There was also a problem related to the distribution of food. Now the Government had implemented a programme of "Zero Hunger", through which 3.5 million people were receiving food grants.
Responding to further questions raised by Committee Experts, the members of the Brazilian delegation said that although the country had laws against torture, a specific law on violence against women should be elaborated to fight that phenomenon. It was true that there were inadequate numbers of officers in every police station to deal with violence against women.
A Ministry of Food Security had been established to enhance the social inclusion of citizens who found themselves marginalized, the delegation said. Considerable efforts had also been made to identify the areas where the Government had to act in time to prevent poverty and hunger. The new Government had explicitly expressed its readiness and willingness to tackle the problem of poverty in the country. The initiative of establishing a Food Bank was yet another sign of the Government's interest towards poverty eradication efforts.
Regularizing land tenure in the shanty towns might resolve some of the difficulties encountered in living conditions in those areas, the delegation said. The issue of land tenure had not been dealt with comprehensively yet.
The Government was reconsidering the economic structural programmes and debt servicing within the framework of the Constitution, the delegation said. The Government was consulting with Congress on the whole economic structural issue. New initiatives were being sought to resolve the situation.
Following the implementation of a programme against child labour, 800,000 children had been stopped from carrying out different kinds of work, the delegation said. Heavy penalties were also envisaged against persons exploiting children economically.
In the 1980s, sterilization was used as a contraceptive measure, the delegation said. In 1996, a law had provided for access by couples to all sorts of contraceptive methods, including sterilization, provided it was strictly applied to those parents who already had at least two children. The demand for sterilization could only become effective after an elapse of 60 days. At present, the use of forced sterilization was illegal. Information was distributed on the availability of contraceptives.
On the issue of the right to physical and mental health, the delegation said that a programme had been launched by the Government to encourage the use of breast-feeding at least until six months after the child was born. There were 213 centres that dealt with breast-feeding.
The World Health Organization (WHO) had recognized the major progress made by Brazil in its campaign against the HIV/AIDS pandemic, the delegation said. The State had developed generic medicines to be distributed to victims of HIV/AIDS. At present, 150,000 persons received retroviral drugs, and the number of victims dying from the disease had been radically reduced, including an 80 per cent reduction in hospitalization.
In 1999, a subsystem had been established under the health system for indigenous peoples in order to cover them by the health care system, the delegation said.
Concerning overcrowding in prisons, the delegation said that because of the overcrowding, diseases such as HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis had been spreading. A further survey was being carried out by the Government and civil society to compile statistics in order to have a clearer picture of the country's jails from inside.
The rate of illiteracy had been reduced during the last decade but had not been eradicated, the delegation said. Mainly affected by illiteracy were persons above the age of 50. Illiteracy among the younger generation was less prevalent. Ninety-seven percent of primary school age groups went to schools, while school attendance after the age of 14, the maximum age of compulsory education, was less. There were several private universities but some of them lacked quality teaching.
There were few indigenous teachers trained to teach in indigenous languages, the delegation said, adding that following the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action, measures had been taken to train more people.
In follow-up questions, Committee Experts asked about the high rate of dropouts; the effectiveness of human rights teachings; and protection of the intellectual property of the traditional knowledge of indigenous peoples, among other things.
The delegation said that there had been disparities in the educational system and access to education among persons of African descendants and non-African descendants. The Durban World Conference against Racism had addressed the situation.
Brazil was doing its utmost to defend the intellectual property of not only the indigenous peoples but also the coastal population of Brazil, the delegation said. Brazil had been negotiating at international fora for the protection of the intellectual properties of those peoples. Indigenous leaders were included in the negotiating Brazilian team.
Only 10 per cent of students completing secondary education had access to university education, the delegation said. Although the average salaries of teachers were increased on several occasions, they were still considered to be low.



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