Items related to "Human Security Gateway: Brazil". Sat, 17 May 2008 0:30:22 +0000 Sat, 17 May 2008 0:30:22 +0000 robert_hartfiel@sfu.ca (Robert Hartfiel) Wed, 14 May 2008 13:16:16 -0700 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=24357 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=24357 Ce rapport contient des résumés sur les régions suivants: Amérique du Sud et Amérique centrale. SOURCE: Nations Unies // Programme Commun Des Nations Unies Sur le VIH/SIDA Nations Unies // Programme Commun Des Nations Unies Sur le VIH/SIDA Wed, 07 May 2008 11:15:50 -0700 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=24195 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=24195 • Comment le développement économique et social influencera-t-il l’évolution de l’environnement à l’horizon 2030 ? Quelles politiques seront nécessaires afin de répondre aux principaux défis environnementaux ? Comment les pays membres et les pays non membres de l’OCDE peuvent-ils unir leurs efforts pour relever ces défis ? • Les Perspectives de l’environnement de l’OCDE à l’horizon 2030 présentent des analyses des tendances économiques et environnementales jusqu’en 2030, ainsi que des simulations de politiques visant à faire face aux principaux problèmes. Sans nouvelles politiques, nous risquons de causer des dommages irréversibles à l’environnement et à la base des ressources naturelles nécessaires pour soutenir la croissance économique et le bien-être de tous. L’inaction des pouvoirs publics a un coût élevé. • Mais les Perspectives montrent que relever les principaux défis environnementaux d’aujourd’hui – y compris le changement climatique, l’appauvrissement de la biodiversité, le manque d’eau et les impacts de la pollution sur la santé – n’est pas impossible ni inabordable. Elles mettent en lumière un ensemble de politiques qui pourraient permettre de relever ces défis d’une manière économique. Le champ d’observation des Perspectives a été élargi par rapport à l’édition 2001, afin de tenir compte des évolutions concernant aussi bien les pays de l’OCDE que le Brésil, la Russie, l’Inde, l’Indonésie, la Chine et l’Afrique du Sud (BRIICS), et d’examiner comment ils pourraient mieux coopérer pour résoudre les problèmes d’environnement au niveau mondial et local. SOURCE: Organisation de Coopération et de Développement Economiques Organisation de Coopération et de Développement Economiques Wed, 30 Apr 2008 14:18:56 -0700 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=24014 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=24014 Ce rapport donne un aperçu de la vie actuelle des femmes dans de nombreuses régions du Brésil. Dans les quartiers pauvres marginalisés, les femmes vivent dans un climat permanent de violences criminelles et policières. Ce rapport s'attache à la situation, souvent passée sous silence, des femmes qui se battent pour survivre, pour élever leurs enfants et pour obtenir justice dans un contexte marqué par les violences d'origine policière ou criminelle. Il met également en lumière certaines violations des droits humains perpétrées contre les femmes en particulier. SOURCE: Amnesty International Amnesty International Thu, 24 Apr 2008 11:22:53 -0700 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=23866 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=23866 Amnesty International has addressed the question of criminal gangs in previous publications, consistently condemning their actions and highlighting how the failure of the state to combat criminal violence has effectively condemned millions of people to lives of fear and misery. This report highlights some of the patterns of human rights violations against women in particular. Building on Amnesty International’s past work on public security, it looks at how women deal with high levels of criminal violence in the absence of state protection; how increasing numbers of women have become directly or indirectly involved in the drug trade; and how women’s contact with the criminal justice system often makes already traumatic situations worse. Most worryingly, it identifies how for decades the state has been directly responsible for the fact that women are suffering attacks and violence at the hands of criminal gangs and law enforcement officials. This report is based on interviews with women in six states – Bahia, Sergipe, Pernambuco, Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo and Rio Grande do Sul – carried out in 2006 and 2007. SOURCE: Amnesty International Amnesty International Tue, 22 Apr 2008 11:07:00 -0700 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=23801 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=23801 This paper aims to advance discussions on human security and how the concept serves as a tool for approaching new (and longstanding) issues of internal and external security in the Latin American context, more specifically in the Brazilian context. It begins by examining the concept of human security, considering its links and practical applications to the problem of violence. It is argued in this paper that human security is more than a normative framework and must be reformulated into an operational and analytical tool. Human security-oriented analysis needs to be more clearly focused on armed violence, a growing phenomenon in Latin America and other parts of the Southern hemisphere. A short review of the current problems in Brazil is undertaken and a case study of Viva Rio, a NGO that works within the human security framework, is discussed. Finally, the paper provides some recommendations for increased cooperation among organizations of civil society, government and private enterprise within and among southern nations. It also makes recommendations for the consolidation of a common international agenda. SOURCE: Centre for Policy Studies Centre for Policy Studies Wed, 26 Mar 2008 10:28:52 -0700 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=23113 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=23113 Paralleling the upward trend in global FDI flows to developing countries, Kimberly-Clark quadrupled its equity holdings in Brazilian and Mexican affiliates over the past decade. Concurrently, Kimberly-Clark made sizable investments in Colombia while this country was facing high levels of civil conflict. The firm’s latter decision is unexpected, given the conventional wisdom that ongoing conflict in the host translates into high costs for any investor. However, Kimberly-Clark is not alone in exposing some of its foreign affiliates to political violence risk, which raises the question: Why do certain investors avoid conflict countries while others continue to select these locations? Previous research assumes homogeneity in investors’ reactions to political violence risk and does not solve this puzzle. I recognize that firms are heterogeneous and identify the attributes that increase firms’ sensitivity to political violence. Firms with investments that rely preponderantly on physical assets, have higher costs for exit, and serve non-host markets perceive higher threats from political violence. Data from a new survey of foreign investors, which includes questions about attitudes towards political violence, support my predictions. SOURCE: Annual Convention of the International Studies Association // Penn State University Annual Convention of the International Studies Association // Penn State University Tue, 05 Feb 2008 15:32:21 -0800 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=22233 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=22233 Ce chapitre présente les résultats de deux études pilotes menées dans le cadre du projet de traçage des munitions, projet en expansion rapide mené par le Small Arms Survey. Les deux études pilotes ont été conduites à des endroits où la violence armée atteint des niveaux extrêmement élevés. Les informations fournies dans ce chapitre montrent qu’une bonne partie des munitions circulant parmi les acteurs non-étatiques dans les deux régions ont été illicitement détournées des forces de sécurité de l’État. En quantifiant et en localisant les flux de munitions, ce chapitre fournit des preuves solides sur le rôle majeur des armes et des munitions détournées dans le maintien de la violence armée. SOURCE: Small Arms Survey Small Arms Survey Tue, 05 Feb 2008 15:27:10 -0800 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=22231 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=22231 Le Brésil, pays qui n’a pour ainsi dire jamais connu de conflit violent, se distingue aujourd’hui par ses niveaux élevés de violence par armes à feu. Le nombre de victimes des armes à feu a augmenté régulièrement des années 1970 à 2004, lorsque les premiers signes d’une atténuation ont été annoncés publiquement. Le nombre de décès causés par les armes à feu a triplé (de 7 à 21 décès par 100 000 personnes) au cours de la période 1982–2002. On parle beaucoup de l’escalade de la violence armée au Brésil dans les médias, mais de manière simpliste. Les médias insistent surtout sur les attaques d’une violence spectaculaire causées par des organisations criminelles organisées dans les principales villes du Brésil, mais ils oublient les effets plus meurtriers de la violence armée ordinaire, phénomène aussi présent dans les campagnes que dans les villes. SOURCE: Small Arms Survey Small Arms Survey Tue, 05 Feb 2008 13:13:09 -0800 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=22218 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=22218 Le produit le plus récent et le plus détaillé à être conçu par securitehumaine-villes.org, cette publication s'appuie sur les travaux de 40 collaborateurs externes qui appliquent un prisme urbain à des thèmes tels que les enfants et les conflits armés, la réforme des systèmes de sécurité, les armes de petit calibre et les armes légères, la stabilisation et la reconstruction, la consolidation de la paix et la promotion de la démocratie. SOURCE: securitehumaine-villes.org securitehumaine-villes.org Thu, 31 Jan 2008 15:01:11 -0800 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=22125 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=22125 Promised a life of riches and full of options, thousands of Brazilians leave their homes every year armed only with dreams and hopes of a better future. Hundreds of them, however, on their way to a nightmare in a foreign tongue. Considered a modern version of slavery, human trafficking preys especially on women in Brazil, and among them, on young, unmarried women with little schooling. They are tricked by older men into living as hostages of international prostitution networks. And none of these victims denounce their oppressors. They are often left without their papers, do not speak the local language and are forced into a market worth 7 to 9 billion US dollars a year, according to estimates by the United Nations Office for Drug Control UNODC. SOURCE: Comunidad Segura Comunidad Segura Wed, 30 Jan 2008 11:06:13 -0800 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=22097 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=22097 U.S. attention to terrorism in Latin America intensified in the aftermath of the September 2001 terrorist attacks on New York and Washington, with an increase in bilateral and regional cooperation. In its April 2007 Country Reports on Terrorism, the State Department highlighted threats in Colombia, Peru, and the tri-border area of Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay. There were no known operational cells of Islamic terrorists in the hemisphere, but pockets of ideological supporters in the region lent financial, logistical, and moral support to terrorist groups in the Middle East. Cuba has remained on the State Department’s list of state sponsors of terrorism since 1982, which triggers a number of economic sanctions. In May 2007, for the second year in a row, the Department of State, pursuant to Arms Export Control Act, included Venezuela on the annual list of countries not cooperating on antiterrorism efforts. Congress fully funded the Administration’s FY2008 request for $8.1 million in Anti-Terrorism Assistance for Western Hemisphere countries in the Consolidated Appropriations Act for FY2008 (P.L. 110-161). In the first session of the 110th Congress, the House approved H.Con.Res. 188, which condemned the 1994 bombing of the Argentine-Israeli Mutual Association in Buenos Aires, and H.Res. 435, which expressed concern over the emerging national security implications of Iran’s efforts to expand its influence in Latin America, and emphasized the importance of eliminating Hezbollah’s financial network in the triborder area. The Senate also approved S.Con.Res. 53, which condemned the hostagetaking of three U.S. citizens for over four years by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, while a similar resolution, H.Con.Res. 260, was introduced in the House. SOURCE: Congressional Research Service Congressional Research Service Tue, 29 Jan 2008 10:56:00 -0800 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=22077 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=22077 In Brazil, if you are a young male with age between 15 and 29, the possibilities of being in a firearm related homicide are much elevated than any other age group (60.2% of the homicides are registered in this age group). These are the basic characteristics of the main risk group. For that reason, and for effective action against this phenomenon, a change is necessary on legislations and on governmental programs in order to allow the implementation of positive measures, such as prevention programs, treatment and rehabilitation initiatives involving the affected communities. SOURCE: Comunidad Segura Comunidad Segura Tue, 15 Jan 2008 11:31:29 -0800 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=21807 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=21807 Another kind of war within the context of a “clash of civilizations” is being waged in various parts of the Americas, Africa, Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and elsewhere around the world today. Some of the main protagonists are those who have come to be designated as first-second-, and third-generation street gangs, as well as their various possible allies such as traditional Transnational Criminal Organizations. In this new type of war, national security and sovereignty of affected countries is being impinged every day, and gangs’ illicit commercial motives are, in fact, becoming an ominous political agenda. SOURCE: Strategic Studies Institute of the US Army War College Strategic Studies Institute of the US Army War College Fri, 11 Jan 2008 10:59:54 -0800 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=21750 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=21750 Since the early 1990s, as part of the process of globalization, we have witnessed the increasing transnationalization of legal institutions and of legal mobilization, two sides of a phenomenon legal scholars refer to as “global judicialization” and “transnational litigation”. The objective of this paper is to reflect on the relationship between transnational legal mobilization and the State through an analysis of the increased use, by local and transnational human rights NGOs, of international legal instruments for the recognition and protection of human rights. Drawing on cases against Brazil in the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (hereafter, IACHR), the paper attempts to offer theoretical tools for reflecting on the strategies and limitations of what I call “transnational legal activism” vis-à-vis the responses given by the State. SOURCE: International Journal on Human Rights International Journal on Human Rights Tue, 18 Dec 2007 16:05:15 -0800 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=21414 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=21414 This book is about the conflicts, dialogues and negotiations underway in peri-urban areas of many cities in the South. It is about how people and communities without good access to water and sanitation services in these areas depend upon alternatives to conventional service delivery from utilities, and how these arrangements can be supported rather than hampered if we are creative. We see how stakeholders can sometimes be brought together to find better solutions to infrastructural development in peri-urban areas and how research can provide information, tools and approaches to facilitate these processes. SOURCE: IRC International Water and Sanitation Centre IRC International Water and Sanitation Centre Wed, 31 Oct 2007 14:07:18 -0700 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=15304 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=15304 More than two years ago, Brazil assumed the leadership of the United Nations peacekeeping mission in Haiti, referred to by its French acronym MINUSTAH. Since then, Brazil's role in that country has been the subject of heated debate in the Brazilian Parliament, among academics and even among members of the Partido de los Trabajadores, PT, (Workers Party), currently in office. Although the participation in Haiti neither has been, nor is, a controversial issue in the election campaign, the results of the second round of elections, to be held at the end of this month, could change Brazil's role in MINUSTAH. SOURCE: Fundación para las Relaciones Internacionales y el Diálogo Exterior Fundación para las Relaciones Internacionales y el Diálogo Exterior Wed, 24 Oct 2007 03:48:29 -0700 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=20896 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=20896 Corruption charges against former state presidents continue in Central America. President Bush makes his first official visit to Canada. PRI takes governorships in Puebla, Sinaloa, and Tamaulipas; PAN wins Tlaxcala governorship. OAS optimistic about possible paramilitary de-mobilization in Colombia. The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum (APEC) summit, in Chile is the first to involve all the Forum members' heads of state. The United States begins implementation of the United States Visitor and Immigrant Status Technology (US-VISIT) at its land borders with Canada and Mexico. The Brazilian economy continues to show solid macroeconomic indicators and growth. Bush administration officials highlight immigration reform as a priority during Bush's second term. SOURCE: Center for Strategic and International Studies Center for Strategic and International Studies Wed, 24 Oct 2007 03:48:03 -0700 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=20333 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=20333 Brazilians are holding a referendum on 23 October on whether to ban the sale of firearms and ammunition to civilians. The authorities say it is the world's first nationwide vote on guns, and that it could set a precedent for campaigns in other countries. The BBC News website looks at some of the key issues surrounding the referendum. SOURCE: British Broadcasting Corporation British Broadcasting Corporation Wed, 24 Oct 2007 03:47:20 -0700 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=19309 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=19309 It is about fraud and theft and murder, and good intentions gone wrong. The study was undertaken for several reasons. First, Brazil has a long history of diamond production, and is the largest diamond producing country in South America. Very little, however, has been published - at least in English - about Brazilian diamonds. As in Angola, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Sierra Leone, Brazil's diamonds are alluvial in nature, and there is a large population of artisanal miners. Brazilian diamonds have attracted a wide variety of exploration and mining firms, as well as the usual complement of international buyers and soldiers of fortune. Finally, the massacre of 29 diamond diggers on the Roosevelt Indian Reserve in the remote Rondxc3xb4nia rainforest in 2004 attracted international media attention and demonstrated that conflict diamonds are by no means restricted to Africa. SOURCE: Partnership Africa Canada // Diamonds and Human Security Partnership Africa Canada // Diamonds and Human Security Wed, 24 Oct 2007 03:47:04 -0700 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=19064 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=19064 In 1993, fear and indignation gripped residents of Rio de Janeiro. Amidst political tensions, economic losses and social crisis, the population was profoundly shaken by a series of kidnappings, the murder of eight street children in front of the Candelaria church, and the wholesale killing of 21 people in the Vigario Geral favela. In response to these shocking events, residents of Rio organized a city-wide demonstration for peace. At 12:00 p.m. on December 17th of that same year, thousands of people dressed in white and paused for two minutes in a silent call for peace. On this day Viva Rio, a non-governmental non-profit organization, was created to stimulate individuals, associations and companies to build a more democratic and just society. SOURCE: Wed, 24 Oct 2007 03:47:03 -0700 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=18949 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=18949 Causes of violence in Rio de Janeiro are multi-faceted. High levels of inequality and physical, social and economic exclusion from the formal system are some of the principle causes. Perpetrators and victims of armed violence in Rio de Janeiro are primarily the police, drug traffickers (mainly young men of 14-29 years old), and civilians caught in the crossfire. Favelas1 are the main locations of gun violence but criminal violence does occur in other parts of the city. The principle type of armed violence is organised drug gang fighting for territorial control; police use of arms; armed robbery and petty crime.One objective of this research was to highlight either existing or possible future indicators for monitoring and measuring the links between armed violence and poverty, and the ways in which an organisation or project could design an intervention to address these issues in an holistic manner. SOURCE: Centre for International Cooperation and Security // University of Bradford Centre for International Cooperation and Security // University of Bradford Wed, 24 Oct 2007 03:46:31 -0700 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=18030 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=18030 Within Haiti, despite the presence of a well-equipped, well organized peacekeeping operation, armed groups are committing violence against civilians with impunity. These "spoilers" - armed groups who are not organized fighting units - seek to destroy the peace process through violence to instill fear and create disorder. The UN peacekeeping operation in Haiti, MINUSTAH, especially the Brazilian contingent that leads it, is not adequately dealing with these groups. SOURCE: Refugees International Refugees International Wed, 24 Oct 2007 03:46:31 -0700 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=18125 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=18125 SOURCE: Protection Project // School of Advanced International Studies // Johns Hopkins University Protection Project // School of Advanced International Studies // Johns Hopkins University Wed, 24 Oct 2007 03:46:22 -0700 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=17934 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=17934 The aim of this chapter is to ascertain the volume, prices and symbolic significance of firearms in illegal transactions by criminals in the city of Rio de Janeiro. SOURCE: Viva Rio Viva Rio Wed, 24 Oct 2007 03:46:04 -0700 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=17100 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=17100 A global drive towards energy revenue transparency is moving forward today. This initiative presents a low cost, high-impact opportunity for both the United States and international oil companies to combat corruption, improve investment climates, and contribute to the development of poor nations. The U.S. can also enhance its energy security by incorporating energy revenue transparency as a key component of its international energy policy. Furthermore, the U.S. should engage China, India, Russia, and Brazil as key partners in the setting of energy revenue transparency as a global standard. SOURCE: Global Witness Global Witness Wed, 24 Oct 2007 03:46:02 -0700 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=16774 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=16774 Brazil's elite military forces have been deployed in one of Rio de Janeiro's most violent slum areas. About 450 soldiers occupied the main entrances to the area that groups more than 20 slums in the north of the city on Wednesday. SOURCE: Al-Jazeera Al-Jazeera Wed, 24 Oct 2007 03:45:47 -0700 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=16453 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=16453 "Brazil, never again." These words sent shock waves through the Western hemisphere in 1985, when the Archdiocese of Sxc3xa3o Paulo released an extensive report that revealed widespread torture, disappearances, and executions carried out by the right-wing Brazilian military regime between 1979 and 1984. The Brazilian military nevertheless proclaimed respect for human rights and adamantly denied the use of torturexe2x80x94with the exception of what it labeled as a few isolated, uncontrollable instancesxe2x80x94and the military-controlled government spoke out against human rights violations but largely ignored any such violence aimed at its own political enemies. However, the Archdiocese's report used the military's own meticulous records, including official proceedings of over 700 cases tried in military courts as evidence that statesanctioned torture led to the murder of 136 people under Brazil's military justice system. Brasil: Nunca Mais revealed the names of 444 torturers and published with horrific detail the cruel and criminal acts performed by soldiers, officers, and medical professionals under the auspices of the state. Such thorough and telling documentation revealed that the Brazilian military and police institutions committed acts of torture and disappearance intentionally and systematicallyxe2x80x94 as a matter of state policyxe2x80x94for the purpose of destroying political opposition and maintaining a climate of silence and repression. SOURCE: Human Rights and Human Welfare Human Rights and Human Welfare Wed, 24 Oct 2007 03:45:47 -0700 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=16499 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=16499 Generally, truth commissions are bodies established to research and report on human rights abuses over a certain period of time in a particular country or in relation to a particular conflict. Truth commissions allow victims, their relatives and perpetrators to give evidence of human rights abuses, providing an official forum for their accounts. In most instances, truth commissions are also required by their mandate to provide r#ecommendations on steps to prevent a recurrence of such abuses. SOURCE: United States Institute of Peace United States Institute of Peace Wed, 24 Oct 2007 03:45:06 -0700 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=15182 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=15182 SOURCE: HIV InSite Database of Country and Regional Indicators // Center for HIV Information // University of California San Francisco HIV InSite Database of Country and Regional Indicators // Center for HIV Information // University of California San Francisco Wed, 24 Oct 2007 03:44:55 -0700 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=14656 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=14656 The Global Justice Center is a non-profit organization dedicated to the promotion of human rights in Brazil through rigorous factfinding, documentation and reporting, as well as the use of international mechanisms for the protection of human rights. The Global Justice Center (Centro de Justixc3xa7a Global, or JG) is the petitioner of several matters before the Inter-American system and has registered more than 100 complaints with the United Nations special mechanisms for the protection of human rights. The first resolution of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights against Brazil, passed on June 2002, refers to a petition filled by the Global Justice Center. JG supports the increased use of international mechanisms through intensive courses, on-site training and joint actions at an international level, with local partner Brazilian NGOs and with social movements. SOURCE: Wed, 24 Oct 2007 03:44:43 -0700 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=14256 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=14256 The 70-page report documents that youths in Rio de Janeiro's detention centers are often beaten and verbally abused by guards. Most complaints of ill-treatment are never investigated by the state's Department of Socio-Economic Action (Departamento Geral de Agues Sscio-Educativas, or DEGASE), the authority responsible for juvenile detention facilities. Administrative sanctions against guards are rare and usually take the form of transfers to other detention centers; no guard has ever faced criminal charges for abusive conduct. SOURCE: Human Rights Watch Human Rights Watch Wed, 24 Oct 2007 03:44:43 -0700 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=14330 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=14330 Latin America's Tri-Border Area (TBA), bounded by Puerto Iguazu, Argentina; Ciudad del Este, Paraguay; and Foz do Iguacu, Brazil, is an ideal breeding ground for terrorist groups. The TBA is a lawless area of illicit activities that generate billions of dollars annually in money laundering, arms and drug trafficking, counterfeiting, document falsification, and piracy. The TBA offers terrorists potential financing; access to illegal weapons and advanced technologies; easy movement and concealment; and a sympathetic population from which to recruit new members and spread global messages. While the TBA is not currently the center of gravity in the Global War on Terrorism (GWOT), it has an important place in the strategy for combating terrorism. SOURCE: U.S. Army Combined Arms Center U.S. Army Combined Arms Center Wed, 24 Oct 2007 03:44:23 -0700 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=13752 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=13752 A more multi-disciplinary approach to research on small arms in recent years is looking beyond simply "counting the weapons" focusing also on the devastating human suffering facilitated by arms proliferation. Unfortunately, a discussion of how gender ideologies might influence people's attitudes to small arms has been largely absent in this discourse. Yet, gender shapes and constrains the behavior and attitudes of women and men, including creating differences in their approaches to and use of small arms. Because these differences have not yet been widely, or only inadequately researched, we have little scientific evidence with which to influence the development of gendermainstreamed programs to curtail the impacts of small arms and light weapons. This Working Paper reports on the preliminary findings of a collaborative project on "Gender Perspectives on Small Arms and Lights Weapons" which aims to contribute to existing efforts to fill this research gap. Drawing on experiences and data from Africa, the Middle East, Asia, South America, the South Pacific, Europe and North America, the Working Paper identifies common themes, questions, challenges and recommendations that have so far emanated from the research project. SOURCE: swisspeace swisspeace Wed, 24 Oct 2007 03:44:11 -0700 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=13342 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=13342 Brazilian police have arrested a man alleged to be one of Colombia's most wanted traffickers, officials say. SOURCE: British Broadcasting Corporation British Broadcasting Corporation Wed, 24 Oct 2007 03:44:07 -0700 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=13140 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=13140 Afro-Brazilians populate all regions of Brazil and are among the poorest segments of society. However, a large majority lives in the less-developed and more rural Northeast. Those of European descent live in the developed Southeast. The social discrimination in Brazil is subtle - formal policies prohibit discrimination on a racial, ethnic, or gender basis, yet discrimination against blacks persists. Many of African descent claim that they are white or mulatto; dark-skinned persons may be able to "whiten" themselves by attaining a high economic status. However, the l#arge majority of blacks are poor, illiterate, and uneducated in comparison to whites. Such social, economic, and political inequalities are unlikely to end in the near future. Black mobilization and organization has been increasing since the 1985 democratic transition. It seems likely that non-violent black movements will gain strength and that political parties will continue to incorporate racial equality into their agendas. Therefore, it seems likely that the Afro-Brazilian movement will eventually grow to a national level scale. Race-inspired political violence does not seem likely, though criminal violence in the favelas is likely to persist. SOURCE: Minorities at Risk Project // Center for International Development and Conflict Management // University of Maryland Minorities at Risk Project // Center for International Development and Conflict Management // University of Maryland Wed, 24 Oct 2007 03:44:07 -0700 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=13161 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=13161 This report assesses the activities of organized crime groups, terrorist groups, and narcotics traffickers in general in the Tri-Border Area (TBA) of Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay, focusing mainly on the period since 1999. Some of the related topics discussed, such as governmental and police corruption and anti-money-laundering laws, may also apply in part to the three TBA countries in general in addition to the TBA. This is unavoidable because the TBA cannot be discussed entirely as an isolated entity. Based entirely on open sources, this assessment has made extensive use of books, journal articles, and other reports available in the Library of Congress collections. It is based in part on the author's earlier research paper entitled "Narcotics-Funded Terrorist/Extremist Groups in Latin America" (May 2002). It has also made extensive use of sources available on the Internet, including Argentine, Brazilian, and Paraguayan newspaper articles. One of the most relevant Spanish-language sources used for this assessment was Mariano César Bartolomé's paper entitled Amenazas a la seguridad de los estados: La triple frontera como xe2x80x98xc3xa1rea gris' en el cono sur americano [Threats to the Security of States: The Triborder as a xe2x80x98Grey Area' in the Southern Cone of South America] (2001). The selective bibliography includes books, journal articles, and other reports. Newspaper and magazine articles are footnoted. This report also includes an appendix containing brief profiles of six alleged operatives of Islamic fundamentalist groups in the TBA and a diagram of drug-trafficking routes in the region. SOURCE: Library of Congress Library of Congress Wed, 24 Oct 2007 03:43:59 -0700 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=12807 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=12807 In 2004, Congress considered a number of issues relating to the Andean region and drug trafficking. The Administration requested $731 million for the Andean Counterdrug Initiative for FY2005, and $114 million for economic assistance programs. Congress also changed the level of U.S. military and civilian contractor personnel allowed to be deployed in Colombia, in response to an Administration request. Congress continues to express concern with the volume of drugs readily available in the United States and elsewhere in the world. The three largest producers of cocaine are Colombia, Bolivia, and Peru, with 90% of the cocaine in the United States originating in, or passing through, Colombia. Regional security issues have also come into sharper focus after the attacks of September 11, 2001. SOURCE: Congressional Research Service Congressional Research Service Wed, 24 Oct 2007 03:43:58 -0700 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=12689 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=12689 Incarcerated youth in Rio de Janeiro endure beatings by guards and other concealed abuses that go unpunished because state juvenile detention centers lack independent monitoring, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today (June 9). This 50-page report documents routine physical abuse, squalid living conditions and other forms of inhumane treatment in the state's youth detention centers. The report finds that these abuses persist in large part because there is no effective independent monitoring of the state's juvenile detention centers. SOURCE: Human Rights Watch Human Rights Watch Wed, 24 Oct 2007 03:43:50 -0700 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=12279 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=12279 Levels of human rights violations continued to be extremely high, despite a number of initiatives by the federal government's Special Secretariat of Human Rights. Reports of ineffective, violent, and corrupt policing raised doubts about the effectiveness of government proposals for reform. SOURCE: Amnesty International Amnesty International Wed, 24 Oct 2007 03:43:46 -0700 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=12091 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=12091 It was early February of this year, and Brazil had practically closed down once again for the annual carnival festivities. Amidst the four-day revelry, volunteers from more than 1,800 nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) handed out more than 11 million condoms paid for by Brazil's Ministry of Health, on top of the 20 million normally distributed each month. The condom-distribution effort is one of two trademarks of Brazil's bold anti-AIDS policies that, by most accounts, are among the most effective in the world. The second trademark is the country's assertion that, regardless of economic means, Brazilians affected by the pandemic have a constitutional right to the antiretroviral drugs used to treat HIV/AIDS. SOURCE: Population Reference Bureau Population Reference Bureau Wed, 24 Oct 2007 03:43:39 -0700 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=11845 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=11845 Brazilians are increasingly familiar with the issue of child and youth involvement in organized armed groups. Media images of adolescents armed with submachine guns walking freely in Rio de Janeiro's favelas are familiar, broadcast into Brazilian homes in the form of nightly news. The recent attacks on police, prison guards, buses and banks by an increasingly brazen Sxc3xa3o Paulo gang controlled from state prisons brought the city and much of the state to a halt. Much of the post-attack repression by the police targeted adolescents and youth in the state's poorest communities. Unfortunately, the public debate on what to do about the problem and the larg#er problem of overall violence in Brazil is all too often limited to calls for the harsher enforcement of laws and policies that have largely proven ineffective. This article hopes to provide the reader with a better understanding of the nature of child and youth involvement in armed organized groups in Brazil as well as measures to address the issue; and provide the basis for a comparison to the situation in Colombia, where children and youth are currently demobilizing from armed groups participating in the civil conflict and at risk of joining groups of a different nature. SOURCE: Comunidad Segura Comunidad Segura Wed, 24 Oct 2007 03:43:35 -0700 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=11572 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=11572 This report presents initial results based on interviews with 24 000 women by carefully trained interviewers. The study was implemented by WHO, in collaboration with the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), PATH, USA, research institutions and women's organizations in the participating countries. This report covers 15 sites and 10 countries: Bangladesh, Brazil, Ethiopia, Japan, Peru, Namibia, Samoa, Serbia and Montenegro, Thailand and the United Republic of Tanzania. Report findings document the prevalence of intimate partner violence and its association with women's physical, mental, sexual and reproductive health. Data is included on non-partner violence, sexual abuse during childhood and forced first sexual experience. Information is also provided on women's responses: Whom do women turn to and whom do they tell about the violence in their lives? Do they leave or fight back? Which services do they use and what response do they get? The report concludes with 15 recommendations to strengthen national commitment and action on violence against women. SOURCE: World Health Organization World Health Organization Wed, 24 Oct 2007 03:43:26 -0700 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=11338 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=11338 Brazil is a constitutional federal republic composed of 26 states and the Federal District. The federal legislative branch exercises authority independent of the executive branch. In October 2002, voters elected President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva ("Lula") of the Workers' Party (PT) to a 4-year term in a free and fair election. The Constitution provides for an independent judiciary; however, it was inefficient and, particularly at the state level, subject to political and economic influences. The military is responsible for national defense and generally played little role in internal security. The federal police force is very small and primarily investigative; most police forces fall under the control of the states. The "civil police" are plainclothes officers with an investigative role, and the "military police" are uniformed police responsible for maintaining public order, with a separate judicial system. While civilian authorities generally maintained effective control of the security forces, members of the security forces committed numerous serious human rights abuses, primarily at the state level. SOURCE: U.S. Department of State U.S. Department of State Wed, 24 Oct 2007 03:43:20 -0700 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=11176 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=11176 This chapter focuses on the health impact of gun-related injuries and deaths in Brazil. The first section is an overview of the methodology highlighting potentials and limitations in the health system databases analyzed. The second section describes the problem answering a series of questions: Who is killed or injured with firearms? How do firearms change the lethality of unintentional injuries or violence? What is the impact of gun-related injuries in hospitals? #How do data on gun-related injuries and death change over time and geographic distribution? In what circumstances do gun-related deaths or injuries occur? This set of information aims to orient development of proposals to prevent armed violence in Brazil. SOURCE: Viva Rio Viva Rio Wed, 24 Oct 2007 03:43:20 -0700 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=11177 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=11177 This chapter describes the evolution of Brazilian arms control legislation since its inception over 70 years ago, and seeks to show that this legislation has historically favored national security over public security and promoted the growth and strengthening of Brazilxc2x92s arms industry (as a means to safeguarding national security) rather than regulating that industry in function of the individual security of Brazilians. During the years of military rule, naturally, these priorities were only strengthened. SOURCE: Viva Rio Viva Rio Wed, 24 Oct 2007 03:43:20 -0700 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=11178 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=11178 While not the only country plagued by widespread armed violence, Brazil is one of only a handful that also possesses a large and thriving small arms industry. This singular fact has myriad implications for small arms issues in Brazil. At the most immediate level, it is now becoming clear that Brazilianmade small arms xc2x97 particularly handguns xc2x97 and not military style automatic weapons smuggled into Brazil, make up the majority of firearms related to criminal activity. This runs counter to what was once the conventional wisdom, in part propagated by the small arms industry itself: that criminals use military style foreign-made small arms to commit crimes while law-abiding citizens use registered Brazilian made firearms for legitimate self-defense. In reality, Brazilxc2x92s own SALW manufacturing companies produce a large percentage of the guns that are responsible for its astronomic levels of armed violence. At the same time, the small arms industry has always been a part, and today makes up the most active sector, of a larger military-industrial complex, whose development and growth was in turn shaped by Brazilian 20th century political history, and in particular the policies of the authoritarian regime that ruled from 1964-1985. The central role that the arms industry as a whole played in the economic and strategic plans of successive military governments had a deep impact on all aspects of how small arms are dealt with in Brazil: from policies on registration, possession, and right to carry to the way arms exports are classified in official trade statistics; from their status in the penal code to the very structure of the market itself. SOURCE: Viva Rio Viva Rio Wed, 24 Oct 2007 03:43:06 -0700 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=10155 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=10155 This massive report deals primarily with the increasingly global problem of the drug trade and ancillary criminal activity in Brazil, China, India, and Mexico. The first section of the report offers a broad overview of the project, including abstracts of the chapters. The rest of the report addresses four specific topics: "Drug Trafficking and the State", "#Drug Trafficking, Criminal Organisations and Money Laundering", "Social and Cultural Dimensions of Drug Trafficking", and "Methodological, Institutional and Policy Dimensions of the Research on Drug Trafficking". SOURCE: UNESCO UNESCO Wed, 24 Oct 2007 03:42:46 -0700 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=9360 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=9360 Follow the Money provides practical information on how citizens of resource-rich countries can become effective monitors of government earnings and expenditures. It summarizes the experiences of some of the most successful budget groups in the world. Representatives of these groups came together at Central European University in April 2004 to discuss what it takes to succeed in monitoring government management of public money. SOURCE: International Budget Project // Center for Policy Studies // Central European University // Open Society Institute // Revenue Watch International Budget Project // Center for Policy Studies // Central European University // Open Society Institute // Revenue Watch Wed, 24 Oct 2007 03:42:41 -0700 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=9266 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=9266 This paper is not concerned with children involved in armed conflict or with child soldiers, rather, it outlines a project for children and youth in one particular Brasilian favela - the Complexo da Maré, in Rio de Janeiro, where three armed drug factions compete with each other for territorial domination. While Rio de Janeiro is not at war, children and adolescents who work in an armed capacity for these drug factions have more in common with child soldiers than with gang members. It is against this backdrop, that Leriana Figueiredo, Fxc3xa1tima Ribeiro and Mirian dos Santos, present the Luta Pela Paz project - a comprehensive social, educational and sporting intervention project which aims to prevent children and youth joining armed drug factions, or to rehabilitate those who have already done so. While children involved in armed violence are not child soldiers - the many similarities between these two groups suggest that those working to rehabilitate members of either group can learn from each others' projects. SOURCE: Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers Wed, 24 Oct 2007 03:42:31 -0700 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=8789 http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/showRecord.php?RecordId=8789 In March 2005, members of the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW) Working Group on Explosive Remnants of War (ERW) issued a questionnaire to states parties regarding ERW and International Humanitarian Law (IHL). This memorandum contains an analysis by Human Rights Watch of the responses provided by states parties to the questionnaire. Human Rights Watch believes that the responses to date lead to the conclusion that national implementation measures, especially with regard to cluster munitions and the submunitions they dispense, are not adequate, and that additional measures are required to ensure adequate protections for civilian populations. SOURCE: Human Rights Watch Human Rights Watch