The Current Reality
Although the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) and the Statute of the Child and Adolescent (ECA) are both now 18 years old, the discrepancies between the agreed upon rights for children and adolescents and the current situation in Brazil is striking.
As Amnesty International has pointed out, there remains a large gap between what is written within Brazilian human rights related legislation and what has so far been implemented in the country. Their 2008 human rights report lists some of the human rights infringements that occurred during 2007 within Rio de Janeiro and the country as a whole. Amnesty appreciates that initiatives to reduce violence are being implemented but remains concerned about the number of official police operations being conducted within the favelas.
As described in a recent newspaper articled, 144 people were killed by police in Rio de Janeiro during the month of April 2008 alone. It goes on to say that the number of people killed by police within the state of Rio de Janeiro during the first four months of 2008 is the highest yet recorded and represents a 12% increase over the same period of 2007.
These figures indicate that although Brazil has legislation aimed at protecting human rights and reducing violence, security issues within Rio de Janeiro remain worse than ever. When considering the number of children that become involved in criminal activity within the favelas, these killings and violence are an affront to what these children are entitled to under current Brazilian legislation.
Further Reading:
Link to Amnesty International’s 2008 Human Rights Report containing information on Brazil’s human rights record for 2007.
Amnesty International Report 2008-The State of the World’s Human Rights
Submission by Amnesty International to the United Nations’ Universal Periodic Review regarding Brazil and human rights.
Submission to the UN Universal Periodic Review-Brazil
A news article in Portuguese regarding the level of violence observed within Rio de Janeiro for the first part of 2008.
Level of police violence in Rio for early 2008