21. It also indicates that there are differences between blacks and nonblacks at almost every level of work (office services and non-operational activities) in terms of salaries received. It indicates that in a study by two Brazilian researchers, Marcelo Paixão and Marcelo Carconholo, on data produced by the PED/DIEESE for the metropolitan region of São Paulo in 1987 and 1998, there was a very significant increase in the differences in wages as between blacks and whites, from 72.9% to 87.1%. They concluded that “income inequalities in the labor market between blacks and whites widened, showing that the new dynamic of the market for that factor, amidst neoliberal changes seen in our economy, was not neutral from the standpoint of race” (petition, p. 12). 22. According to the petitioner, the researchers analyzed trends in unemployment rates from 1987 to 1998, observing that the changes during that period were more than proportional between blacks and whites. The unemployment rate in Greater São Paulo, from 1987 to 1998, rose sharply for the economically active population as a whole, yet it was found that blacks were harder hit. They report that among blacks, unemployment was 11.6% in 1987, and surpassed 20% in 1998, whereas unemployment among whites jumped from 8.6% to 16.1% in 1998. Even though unemployment increased for both ethnic groups, the extent of the increase was more than 95.7% for blacks, and 87.2% for whites. 23. The situation is even more stark for black women, who saw a 79.9% jump in unemployment, whereas for white women it rose 61.3%. Accordingly, black women are major victims of the contemporary competitive relationship, according to the petitioner. For this reason, special measures need to be adopted to try to reduce the discrimination that prevails in the labor market in Brazil (petition, p. 12). 24. Petitioner asserts that the situation of black women in Brazil has not been evolving favorably: “they do not have social mobility, they have the lowest level of schooling, and even when they have a high level of education, as in the instant case, doors are shut to them for being black women” (petition, p. 13). 25. Petition further notes that the Brazilian State, on signing international treaties and conventions, recognizes that they become cogent norms that are binding on the State domestically and internationally, it being, therefore, inadmissible to have a system in place that puts professionals in different tiers based on the color of their skin. 26. The petitioner asks that in light of the allegations, and especially the unwarranted delay in the appellate stage (more than three years) that the Brazilian State should be called upon by the IACHR to state its position, to carry out an investigation, and to prosecute and punish the persons responsible, in addition to requiring it to pay the victims compensation. B. The State 27. The Brazilian State expressed its views in a brief dated January 23, 2006, and on July 25, 2006, adducing, it the first communication, that the facts alleged by the petitioner gave rise to Police Inquiry 34/98, before the Police Unit Specialized in Racial Crimes (Delegacia Especializada em Crimes Raciais) in the city of São Paulo; that the Public Ministry filed a complaint against Mr. Tahara for the practice of racial discrimination, in the terms of Article 4 of Law 7,716/1889; and that after he was acquitted, the victims filed an appeal on November 17, 1999, with a favorable opinion from the Public Ministry. The accused then presented his counterarguments; and that as of the date the complaint was lodged, the appeal had not been distributed to any of the chambers of the Court of Appeals of the State of São Paulo.