by Emilee Gaebler
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America 

BRASÍLIA, Brazil – The eighth murder of an environmental activist, since May of this year, has occurred.  Joao Chupel Primo, a 55 year old activist in the northern state of Para was shot in the head by two unknown men.

The Argentina Independent reports that Primo was approached at his mechanic shop by two unknown men asking for car repair work to be performed.  Upon approaching them, one of them pulled a gun and shot Primo in the head.  He died shortly after from the bullet wound.

Primo was an active protestor against the deforestation occurring in Brazil’s rain forest.  He was currently working on the Projeto de Assentamento Areia (Area Settlement Project) which publicly criticized the illegal logging taking place in the Riozinho de Anfrisio reserve.

“He was receiving death threats and had already been physically abused,” said Gilson Rego the spokesman for the Pastoral Land Commission (CPT).

Other protestors and environmental agencies don’t hesitate to link Primo’s murder to his protests.  Rego points to just a few weeks ago, in early October, where demonstrations by Primo led to a police investigation to halt illegal logging near Itaituba.  The land conflict issue has been strained to a near breaking point in recent months with the seven previous murders; including those of husband and wife Jose Claudio Ribeiro da Silva and Maria do Espirito Santo da Silva.

Following Primo’s murder prosecutors in Para have sought protection by the federal police for two other protestors who witnessed the illegal deforestation taking place in the Itaituba region.  CPT also points out that the police had been informed by Primo of the death threats he received but did nothing in response.  Similar stories of failure to act by the police have come out of the other environmentalist murders.

CPT also published a letter from the Bishop of Itaituba, Dom Frei Wilmar Santin, condemning the murder.  In the letter Santin points to President Dilma Roussef’s administration as being incapable of addressing the problem and therefore responsible for the murders.

“Since 2005 until now over 20 people were killed in the region of Para,” says the Bishop in his letter.

This most recent murder of Primo contributes to an alarming trend that seems to be developing in Brazil; an attitude that permits an atmosphere of total impunity to exist around these unsolved and unprosecuted murders.

For more information, please see;

The Argentina Independent – Brazil: Environmental Rights Defender Murdered – 27 October 2011

Front Line Defenders – Brazil: Killing of Environmental Rights Defender Mr. Joao Chupel Primo – 27 October 2011

Intercontinental Cry – The Killings Must Stop Brazil: Murder of Another Peasant Leader – 26 October 2011

Yahoo News – Eighth Brazilian Farmer Since May Killed in Amazon – 25 October 2011

By Paula Buzzi
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

VALENCIA, Venezuela — Five alleged abductors, including a Colombian linked to paramilitary and kidnapping groups, were arrested on Friday in connection to the kidnapping of Washington Nationals’ catcher Wilson Ramos. Ramos, 24, was abducted at gunpoint outside his home on Wednesday night and held for ransom by his abductors until police managed to save him in a violent rescue mission on Friday.

Ramos, a Venezuela native, had returned to his homeland to play during the offseason in a Venezuelan league. He was with relatives outside his house, located in a working-class neighborhood in Valencia, when he was thrown into an SUV by the abductors and taken into the mountains. For two days, he was put in a room with a bed and was told that he was going to be ransomed out for “a ton of cash.”

Venezuelan police were able to track down and rescue Ramos on Friday after locating the stolen SUV which was used for the kidnapping. They exchanged heavy gun fire with the kidnappers outside the home where he was being held. President Huge Chavez authorized the aerial search mission.

Ramos, who was unharmed, has been reunited with his family. His mother, Maria Campos de Ramos, thanked God, her country, her neighbors, and her family for all the support on national television.

According to Justice Minister Tareck El Aissami, authorities have arrested five of the captors. They are still searching for four Colombian men who escaped during the rescue.

Ramos’ kidnapping is the first known kidnapping of a Major League Baseball player in Venezuela. His kidnapping ordeal ended happily for him and his family with a successful rescue, but it is not a common ending for many of Venezuela’s hostages who typically die when a large ransom is not paid.

Kidnappings in Venezuela have soared in the recent years and have become a huge problem for the Chavez administration. Government statistics reveal that 859 kidnappings were reported last year; a number 20 times higher since Chavez first came to power 13 years ago.

One of Ramos’ representatives announced on twitter today that, despite the kidnapping ordeal, Ramos still intents to play for the Venezuelan Winter League on Wednesday, November 16.

For further information, please see:

NPR – In Venezuela, An Abduction Highlights A Scourge – 13 November 2011

The Boston Globe – Ramos Thankful After Kidnapping Ordeal – 13 November 2011

Yahoo Sports – Kidnapping Ordeal Over, Wilson Ramos Intends to Play in Venezuela – 13 November 2011

Fox News – Venezuelan Police Free Major Leaguer Wilson Ramos – 11 November 2011

By Paula Buzzi
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil —  Brazil’s labor minister, Carlos Lupi, now joins a list of six other cabinet-level officials in President Dilma Rousseff’s government with corruption allegations since she first took office in January. Reports by Veja magazine are alleging that Lupi and some of his top aids have received numerous kickbacks by private organization with government contracts. Veja cited unidentified law makers and officials in its report.

After the allegations came out over the weekend, Lupi has come under pressure by leaders of two of the opposition parties in the lower house of the Brazilian congress to quit. Although the ministry has declined to formally comment, a note on the ministry’s web site states that Lupi denies the allegations and is calling for an investigation by the federal police into the report findings.

“I can’t permit my 30 years of public service to be dragged through the mud by cowards who hide behind anonymity in the pages of a magazine,” Lupi quotes in a note on the ministry web site.

Since the allegations, Lupi has fired one of his advisers. His party, the center-left PDT party, is planning to hold a meeting on Tuesday to go over the allegations against him and listen to his explanations.

Several of the scandals that surrounded six other cabinet-level officials in Rousseff’s government this year have ended with the eventual withdrawal of support by Rousseff and the resignation of the accused cabinet-level official. Several of them also initially denied the accusations.

The last official to quit was Sports Minister Orlando Silva. He was also accused by the media of receiving kickbacks from public contracts with private companies. Silva initially denied the accusations but then resigned in October, two weeks after the first allegation.

Brazil loses up to 2.3 percent of its annual economic output due to corruption. Rousseff, from the leftist Workers’Party, however, appears to be riding the anti-corruption wave recently; working hard to combat corruption in the capital Brasilia. Last month, she suspended federal government payments to private groups that have been under suspicion of giving kickbacks to government officials.

According to Claudio Weber Abramo, the president of corruption watchdog Transparency Brazil, Rousseff’s government is being more aggressive with its fight against corruption compared to Rousseff’s predecessor, Luiz Inacio Lula. “The government is taking a more vigorous approach in relation to its allies in ministries … It is saying to them: ‘We are watching you more closely’,” Abramo said.

Rousseff’s office has declined to comment on the latest accusations against Lupi.

For further information, please see:

MercoPress – Rousseff Could See Another Minister Out: Labour Accused of Corruption – 07 November 2011

Reuters – Brazil’s Rousseff Rides Anti-Graft Wave – For Now – 07 November 2011

Reuters – Brazil Labor Minister Latest to Feel Scandal Heat – 07 November 2011

The Wall Street Journal – Brazil Labor Minister Faces Corruption Allegations – 07 November 2011

by Emilee Gaebler
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

BRASÍLIA, Brazil – Last Wednesday, November 2, Marcelo Freixo, a popular human rights activist, was forced out of Brazil.  Freixo and his family fled the country to an undisclosed European nation with the help of Amnesty International.

In recent months, Freixo has received at least seven different death threats and there is a $230,000 price on his head.  He is forced to travel in a bullet-proof car and to have 24 hour security guards.  Since 2008, his activism against the militia groups has made him the focus for much animosity; however recently the threats have increased in frequency.

“I plan to stay outside Brazil for a while.  I want this time to adjust my security precautions and to call the attention of the authorities.  I’m treating this as my own personal problem but clearly it is a public security problem too,” was Freixo’s statement to Reuters news agency.

Freixo has become a target due to his work investigating and bringing to justice many of those involved with the militia groups taking over the slums.  In 2008, when two investigative journalists were killed for their rumored exposé on the militia groups, Freixo was chosen to lead a commission.  The commission was tasked with examining these groups made up of former police officers and military members.

Originally termed the Unidades de Policia Pacificadora (UPP or Pacifying Police Units) these groups were supported for their role in eliminating the control that drug gangs had in the slums.  Unfortunately, with the power vacuum left by the absence of drug gangs, many of the militia groups have become corrupt.

Now, the militias are the ones who control the slums.  They extort money, use violence and even kill opposition.  As well, basic services in the slums like water, gas and transportation are managed by them.  The militias control is almost more threatening because they intimately understand the system and the strategic loopholes that exist.   The Rio newspaper, O Globo reported that roughly 55 slums are controlled by drug gangs and close to 105 slums are controlled by a militia group.

Freixo’s 2008 commission ended up indicting over 200 people, including a number of high profile politicians who supported the militias knowing that they were corrupt.  Although many involved were punished, Freixo’s biggest concern was that the main support for the militias, the funding, was not stopped.

“We put a lot of people in prison, which was important as it weakened the militias.  But we need to hit them financially.  Above all it is a business.”

Just months ago, Judge Patricia Acioli was murdered.  She took a firm stance against the militias and received multiple death threats for her decisions.  Police involvement is suspected in her murder as the bullets used by the killers were police issue.

Freixo intends to return to Brazil, he stressed that he is not giving up on the fight and announced plans to run for Mayor in 2012.

For more information, please see;

The Rio Times – State Deputy Marcelo Freixo Flees Militias in Brazil – 3 Novermber 2011

BBC News – Rio Lawmaker Marcelo Freixo to Flee Rio After Threats – 1 November 2011

The Guardian – Mafia Assassination Threat Forces Brazil MP Into Exile – 31 October 2011

Reuters – Anti-Crime Politician To Flee Brazil After Threats – 31 October 2011