REPORT Nº 83/06 1
PETITION 641-03
ADMISSIBILITY
MANOEL LUIZ DA SILVA
BRAZIL
October 21, 2006
I.
SUMMARY
1.
On April 13, 2005, the Global Justice Center (GJC), the
Paraiba Pastoral Land Commission (CPT/PB) and Dignitatis –Technical
and Legal Consultancy, represented by James Cavallaro, Andressa
Caldas, Mahine Dorea, Noaldo Belo de Meireles and Eduardo Fernandez
de Araujo (hereinafter “the petitioners”), lodged a petition with the
Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (hereinafter “the
Commission” or “the IACHR”) wherein they allege that the Federative
Republic of Brazil (hereinafter “Brazil” or “the State”) violated Articles
4, 5, 8, 25 and 1(1) of the American Convention on Human Rights
(hereinafter “the American Convention”) to the detriment of Manoel
Luiz Da Silva.
2.
The petition asserts that the State has incurred in
international responsibility for violation of the rights of Mr. Manoel Luís
Da Silva, a landless rural worker allegedly murdered on May 19, 1997,
at the site of the “Fazenda Engenho Taipu” in the town of “São Miguel
de Taipu,” in the state of Paraíba, Brazil. The petition asserts that the
property in question was at the time in the process of being
expropriated for public use, for the purpose of agrarian reform. The
petitioners state that on the date of the event in question, the alleged
victim was in the company of three (3) other landless workers. As they
were crossing the property, owned by Mr. Alcides Vieira de Azevedo,
they encountered three (3) private security guards in his employ, who
told them that they were not allowed on the property and that they
had been instructed by their employer to kill any landless rural workers
found on the property. Following an exchange between the two
groups, the petition asserts, one of the guards shot the alleged victim,
who died instantly. The petition affirms that the facts were reported
to the police, yet as of the date on which the petition is under review,
no action has been taken to establish the facts or the identity of those
responsible. The petition alleges connivance on the part of the police,
the judicial branch and area landowners, enabling the crimes
committed against the landless workers of the region to go
1 In keeping with Article 17.2.a of the Commission’s Rules of Procedure,
Commissioner Paulo Sérgio Pinheiro, a Brazilian national, did not participate in the
decision on this petition.
1