BRASILIA, Brazil — A judge in north-eastern Brazil has sentenced three people after they were convicted of killing a woman, and then eating her.
‘Brazil Trio’ / Image courtesy of gawker.com
Jorge Beltrao Negromonte da Silveira was sentenced to 23 years in prison. His wife, Isabel Cristina Pires and his mistress, Bruna Cristina Oliveira da Silva were sentenced to 20 years in prison.
The trio made parties from a woman’s flesh and then sold the pastries to their neighbors. Additionally, they confessed to killing two more women and will be sentenced later. Their lawyer’s are planning an appeal against the Friday’s sentences.
The three were arrested in April 2012, in the city of Guaranhuns. Together they were convicted of murder, desecration and concealment of a body.
At the trial’s opening, Silveira said that he had “committed a horrible monstrous mistake,” according to local news channels.
Their victim was a homeless woman named as Jessica Camila da Silva. The victim was of no relation to Bruna Cristina Oliveira da Silva.
The trio allegedly lured the victims to their house by telling them that they were looking to hire a nanny.
They admitted to the court that they murdered and ate their victims as a part of a purification ritual. However, they denied that they sold the victims remains baked inside of ’empada’ pastries.
It is alleged that the trio passed off the human pastries as non-human meat to sell to their neighbors. It is also alleged that the trio fed the human remains to a child that was living with them.
Authorities found human remains in the garden behind the house that the three shared.
Police also found a book written by Jorge Beltrao Negromonte da Silveira titled “Revelations of a Schizophrenic”. In the 50-page book he detailed how he constantly heard voices and was fixated on killing women.
At the time of their arrest the trio claimed to be a part of a group that supported “the purification of the world, and the reduction of its population”.
On the 5th Anniversary of Sergei Magnitsky’s Murder in Russian Police
Custody, Please Join Us in Watching a Two Minute Tribute Song to Sergei
on YouTube.
To commemorate the fifth anniversary of Sergei
Magnitsky’s death in Russian police custody today, please join us by
watching a short song on YouTube devoted to Sergei’s life and his
sacrifice
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b0dsvgBHNos&list=PLtRWoqwq_IR3XtbGTzwUcnl_ WhKKpMzvc.
Sergei Magnitsky was a 37-year old Russian anti-corruption lawyer who
uncovered a $230 million fraud perpetrated by Russian government
officials and organised criminals. After he implicated Russian police
officers in the crime, he was arrested by the very same officers,
tortured and brutally killed at Matrosskaya Tishina pre-trial detention
center in Moscow on 16 November 2009.
The Sergei Magnitsky tribute song says:
“Jailed for the words that he spoke
His name lives on
In the name of the music and the folks
Who fail to forget that rulers need
To show respect to the people they lead…
Sergei…You didn’t lose your life in vain –
Everyone on Earth will remember the name.”
The Sergei Magnitsky tribute song was written by a songwriter Samuel
Smith, and recorded as a result of a request made on www.movements.org, a
crowd-sourcing platform for human rights activists around the world. The
video directed by Alexandra Ageeva has been created by Russian civic
rights activists, including Pussy Riot, who conducted a series of
one-person protest actions around Moscow this summer.
The music video begins with an image of Russian President Vladimir Putin
at a televised press conference in December 2012, publicly denying that
Sergei Magnitsky had been tortured in pre-trial detention before his
death:
Vladimir Putin: “Mr Magnitsky perished, died, not from torture, no one
tortured him.”
The Magnitsky music video also presents images of a young Sergei
Magnitsky, and of his resting place at a Moscow cemetery.
The video concludes with a photo of Sergei on holiday with his friends
and the byline: “Russian hero.”
While the killing of Sergei Magnitsky has ignited worldwide condemnation
and lead to numerous political and legal calls for justice around the
globe, five years on there has still been no justice for Sergei Magnitsky
in Russia. Instead, he himself was posthumously prosecuted in the first
posthumous trial in the history of Russia, with the judge presiding at
the trial immediately promoted by Russian President Vladimir Putin. The
Russian authorities also last year closed the investigation into his
death finding “no sign of crime,” and refused all applications from
Sergei Magnitsky’s mother to reopen the investigation into the evidence
of his torture and murder.
On Friday, the US State Department released a statement on the eve of the
fifth anniversary of Sergei Magnitsky’s death which says: “Despite widely
publicized, credible evidence of criminal conduct resulting in
Magnitskiy’s death, Russian authorities have failed to bring to justice
those responsible. We remain concerned about
impunity for this crime and the atmosphere of intimidation for those who
work to uncover corruption or human rights abuses in the Russian
Federation. On the fifth anniversary of Magnitskiy’s death, we continue
to call for full accountability for those responsible for his unjust
imprisonment and wrongful death and we will continue to fully support the
efforts of those in Russia who seek to bring these individuals to
justice, including through implementation of the Sergei
Sergei Magnitsky’s case and the impunity of the Russian officials
involved have become a symbol of the corruption and failing justice
system in Russia, and of the abuse of the rights of its citizens who
challenge the authorities.
By Kathryn Maureen Ryan Impunity Watch, Managing Editor
SRI JAYAWARDENEPURA KOTTE, Sri Lanka – The U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein accused the Sri Lankan government of trying to “sabotage” a war crimes inquiry by creating a “wall of fear” to prevent witnesses from giving evidence. The U.N. Human Rights Council set up an inquiry in March to investigate war crimes allegedly committed by both government forces and Tamil rebels, known as the Tamil Tigers, during the final stages of a 26-year war that ended in 2009. “The Government of Sri Lanka has refused point blank to cooperate with the investigation despite being explicitly requested by the Human Rights Council to do so,” Commissioner Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein said in his statement.“A wall of fear has been created that has undoubtedly served to deter people from submitting evidence,” he said.”“Such a refusal does not, however, undermine the integrity of an investigation set up by the Council – instead it raises concerns about the integrity of the government in question. Why would governments with nothing to hide go to such extraordinary lengths to sabotage an impartial international investigation?” The government has allegedly practiced surveillance and harassment intended to deter people from submitting evidence Commissioner Zeid said, calling it “unacceptable conduct for any member state of the United Nations which has committed to uphold the U.N. Charter.”
Relatives of missing persons from Sri Lanka’s 26-year long civil war hold pictures of their loved ones during a meeting in the nation’s capital. (Photo courtesy of the United Nations News Centre)
The government of Sri Lanka has refused to cooperate with the investigation into allegations of abuses by both government soldiers and members of the Tamil Tiger rebel organization. Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Gamini Peiris “expressed strong displeasure at the selective and biased approach” of the investigation and said it infringed “on the basic norms of justice and fair play.” Zeid rejected Peiris’s accusations, saying his office had many years of experience with similar inquiries into violations.
According to an earlier report published by the United Nations, as many as 40,000 ethnic Tamil civilians may were killed during the last months of the country’s quarter-century civil war. The report alleged both sides of the conflict bore responsibility for war crimes and other violations of human rights. The report claimed the government may have deliberately shelled civilians and hospitals as well as blocked food and medicine intended for civilians trapped in the war zone. The rebels were accused of recruiting child soldiers and using civilian populations as human shields. After resisting demands for an internal investigation for years, the Sri Lankan government appointed a three-member commission to inquire into cases of war disappearances.
The Sri Lankan Civil War was born out of the long history of ethnic conflict between the Island’s majority Sinhalese and the minority Tamil population. The Tamil minority faced a long history of civil and economic discrimination preventing social mobility and political participation. The Tamil militia, known as the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam or the Tamil tigers became one of the first militia groups to use Suicide bombing as a terror tactic. The organization is listed as a terrorist organization by 32 countries including the United States which sent a military advisory team to the island in 2005. The Sri Lankan government responded harshly to the Tamil Tigers, it been accused on increasingly discriminating against the Tamil community, treating anyone from the community as a potential militant, including children.
By Lyndsey Kelly Impunity Watch Reporter, North America
WASHINGTON, D.C., United States of America – After the shooting of an African-American teenager, Michael Brown, in Ferguson, Missouri and the number of racially charged protests that have risen in its aftermath, the parents of the teen testified Tuesday before a United Nations Committee Against Torture. Currently, citizens of St. Louis and the smaller town of Ferguson are awaiting the grand jury decision on whether to indict Darren Wilson, the police officer who killed Brown. Last week, the grand jury heard from Dr. Michael Baden, a forensic pathologist hired by the Brown family’s attorney to perform an autopsy. This was the third autopsy performed.
Parents of Ferguson teenager, Michael Brown, who was shot in August, speak about their experience at the U.N. Committee Against Torture. (Photo courtesy of Fox News)
Michael Brown Sr. and Lesley McSpadden, Michael Brown’s parents, traveled to Switzerland to testify as part of the delegation of human rights advocates organized by the U.S. Human Rights Network. The Browns made a statement against police brutality and voiced their concerns over the ongoing events in Ferguson. They wished to relay the message to members of the U.N. committee and recommended them to bring an end to racially biased policing tactics and racial-profiling by officers in the Ferguson area. The family also requested a nationwide investigation examining police brutality and harassment in minority communities. The statement released by Brown’s family calls for recommendations that would apply to the entire United States, including the Department of Justice.
The family’s testimony to the committee took place behind closed doors, but a statement released last week says that Brown’s killing and the force used by the police during protests “represent violations of the Convention against Torture….” According to its website, “the Committee Against Torture is the body of 10 independent experts that monito[r] implementation of the Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment by its State parties.” Brown’s family hopes that by speaking in Switzerland, the U.N. will expose thee issues to the rest of the world.
On 24 October, Benjamin Crump, an attorney for Michael Brown’s family said, “All Michael Brown’s family has asked from day one is equal justice for their son. The concept of due process, this notion of all the law in the legal proceedings being fair for them, just like it is for a police officer.” Lawyers for Officer Wilson have chosen not to speak to the media.
