A campaign fight against the murder of black youth is born

Text sent to the group list Rede do 3° Setor on 04/20/2006
http://br.groups.yahoo.com/group/3setor

Citizenship in the Internet
Fernanda Sucupira
Source: Carta Maior Agency

From 1993 to 2002 the rate of youth homicide of 15 to 24 year olds in Brazil increased ]88%. In 2003 alone more than 16 thousand brazilians in this age group were assassinated. Furthermore the rate of afro-descendant homicides is 74% greater than the average of white homicides in the same age group and firearm deaths is the main cause within that youth group. The majority of the country´s murder victims are youth, the poor and blacks, mainly from the outskirts of the major cities. As a result, Black Movement entitites together with a series of the labor, of women and human rights watch organizations launched the campaign: "Don´t kill our Youth: I want to be able to Grow Up".

On April 21, International Day towards the erradication of Racism was Dia Internacional pela Eliminação do Racismo, a public act at the Sé square in São Paulo city was held so that the campaign ideas could take the street in the hope that in the next 2 years something can be done. The proposal is that it starts in São Paulo and gradually becomes a national movement since this is an issue that affects practically all of the country´s urban centers.

In 1995 as a result of extermination groups against girls and boys who lived in the streets, mostly blacks - more specifically the Candelária Killing, the CONEN - Black Entities National Coordination organized a similar campaign called "Don´t kill our Children" so as to divulge the violence wave and demand that this scenario was changed..

More than a decade later the situation hasn´t improved only the target has changed. ^ These children have grown up and today have become our youth exactly today´s victims of the genocide being carried out by the police and criminal apparatus ^ denounces Sonia Leite from the Black Women State Forum executive. This killing of our youth goes on Sonia, also takes place via the sexual tourism which slowly anihilates the growth of these young girls and boys.

The main critic focus according to the campaign organizer is related to the lack of public politics towards this youth which could contribute to minimize this situation.Gilson Negão from the CMP - Popular Movements Central national board sarcastically criticizes the government when he says: "The affirmative policy of the state of São Paulo government is the Febem [Minors Well Being State Foundation]" (FEBEM is well know as an institution where minors are so badly treated that they learn how to become true criminals after going through this correction institution). Among the revindications to solve this problem is the elaboration and implementation of cultural, sporting, leisure, labor and income generation policies which present alternatives to this age group which most times does not have any survival perspective other than drug dealing.

"Or does anyone really believe that FEBEM will solve any or our society´s problems?", questions Negão. According to him the truth shown in the documentary film "Falcão – Drug Dealing Boys", shown by Globo Television network a few weeks ago which had great repercusion is being denounced throughout many years by the brazilian civil society without any effective response by the public sector power.

São Paulo´s FEBEM is accused of being one of the responsible institutions for this youth massacre, specially towards the poor afro-descendants. Since 2003 23 of our youth have died, mostly blacks while under the custody of the state in these institutions. These institutions should be more educational or correctional but more and more have approached the prison type models. Many of the kids are tortured and are victims of many types of bad treatment. The situation is so sever that it is presently at the OEA´s (American States Organization) Interamerican Human Rights Commission and may be sent to Court around the middle of this year of 2006.

"This is a state which destroys the public education, builds prisons and doesn´t invest in prevention. The effects are tragic mainly for the metropolitan poor black youth. Much of this youth which is inside FEBEM are victims of the state agents who should be following the law instead. The official violence is also present when these crimes are not persecuted and omission is the status quo according to the attorney
Ariel de Castro Alves, coordinator for the Human Rights National Movement.

This campaign will form committees throughout the country to debate and raise these issues the same way that took place in the preparation for the Zumbi March + 10 and of the Racial Equality Promotion National Conference according to the National Commission Against Racial Discrimination of the CUT (Workers Only Central) represented by Maria Isabel da Silva. The idea is to enable a direct communication link with the metropolitan population via the means of hip-hop or student nuclei so as to raise the discussion of the problem and to guarantee that these young people themselves become their own campaign protagonists..

"This is not only a black movement campaign but of the whole civil society. It belongs to the labor, student, human rights, feminist and housing movements because this is a problem of Brazil and not restricted to the black poulation", resumes this member of the Black Women State Forum.

Domestic laborers

As part of the celebrations of the Racism Elimination Day, domestic laborers, feminist organization representatives and of the black movement enacted a mobilization so that the Special Commission on Labor and Domestic Employment created by the Congress in November 2005 really started to act uppon these problems.

Thanks to the mobilization, to the dialogue with congressmen who are aligned with these issues and to the political pressure over other congressmen they have forced that the first meeting of this commission be held. It hadn´t been held before due to lack of quorum, showing the full lack of interest towards the domestic laborers who make up a universe of 6 million people mainly of black women.
Among the approved items in this first meeting are:

- the invitation for the federal government to debate the Provisory Measury number 284 of March 2006 which promotes a reduction in the Social Security income tax paid by the employer;

- a public hearing in order to discuss the domestic child labor erradication policies in Brazil;

- the invitation to discuss Brazil´s Domestic Laborers Confederation revindications;

- the organization of a seminar on the subject;

- the realization of publich hearings in the different states so as to open the debate over the labor status and domestic labor in the country.

"It is crucial that this take place in order for proposals and projects be channeled in the states and regions since there already exist 46 law projects on this issue and this labor segment faces more difficulty to participate of these discussions than other segments. In any other labor union there are protective measures against this but regarding the domestic labores this is much more complex", evaluates Camilla Valadares from the Assessory and Feminist Studies Center (Cfemea).

The protesters achieved that the congressmen committed themselves to follow up with these meetings but these protesters believe that they will need more mobilization and political pressure so that these meetings really take place. According to Cfemea - Assessory and Feminist Studies Center the idea is that these federal congressmen and congresswomen start prioritizing in their agendas the urgent debate over domestic labor in Brazil since the Legislative power has a fundamental role in the recognition of these laborer´s rights yet to be guaranteed such as obligatory Social Security, stability for pregnant workers and a weekly shift of 44 hours.

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