Urgent Action 6-23-09

URGENT ACTION APPEAL
- From Amnesty International USA

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23 June 2009

UA 165/09 Forced eviction

BRAZIL Over 200 homeless families

Over 400 families were forcibly evicted from a government building on 16 June 2009; more
than 200 families are now encamped in extremely precarious conditions in an enclosed space
under a viaduct in the centre of Sao Paulo. Supported by local NGOs, the families plan to
stay under the viaduct until the authorities offer them adequate alternative housing.

The families, who were all homeless, had been occupying a government building owned by the
INSS (Brazilian social security) which according to the the Movimento Sem-Teto do Centro,
Homeless Movement of Central Sao Paulo (MSTC) had been empty for over 20 years and was
earmarked to be used for social housing. They were served with an eviction order but were
not given adequate notice; there was no consultation or attempts to identify alternatives
to the eviction; they were not told when the eviction would take place, nor were they
offered any alternative accommodation. To avoid being removed by force, they left the
building peacefully. Roughly half went to stay with relatives or friends. With no other
option the others – over 200 families - set up a makeshift encampment by the side of a main
road in central Sao Paulo, Avenida Nove de Julho.

The municipal authorities subsequently offered them places in council hostels, which the
families rejected on the grounds that the accommodation was short-term, would break up the
families, separating women and children from their husbands, and that there were
insufficient places for the whole group.

On the night of 18 June riot police arrived, giving the families 40 minutes to leave the
area. When the families refused to move, the riot police advanced on them using teargas,
pepper spray and batons. The homeless people set fire to furniture and mattresses and made
them into a roadblock, then fled. Council trucks then came and took away the rest of their
belongings, including blankets, pots, pans and stoves. According to the MSTC, five homeless
people were injured during the operation, including a child. Police allege that the
homeless people threw stones at them and that four of their officers were slightly injured,
a claim disputed by the MSTC.

The group, which includes elderly people and babies as young as nine months, returned to
the encampment completely destitut, fearing further police action and sleeping in shifts to
keep watch. On 22 June, the riot police returned to clear the area once more. After
negotiations the group was moved to a closed-off space under a viaduct, with no water or
electricity. NGOs are now working to make the space habitable.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Sao Paulo has a chronic shortage of housing for low-income families, who are often forced
to live in the shanty towns on the outskirts. The municipal government is regenerating the
center of the city, and in the process further reducing the supply of housing to the city’s
poor. At the same time, scores of buildings sit empty, many owing more in back-taxes and
utility bills that the value of the buildings themselves. With the help of local NGOs, poor
families have begun squatting these buildings.

The Prestes Maia building, which had been empty for eight years, was squatted by over 400
families in 2002 and became the homeless movement’s cause celebre. After international
pressure, in 2007 the municipal government rehoused some of the families and gave rent
assistance to others in what was seen as a victory for the movement, although since then
the authorities have withdrawn their support from 300 of the families.

RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible:
- expressing concern that over 400 families were forcibly evicted from the INSS building on
16 June and left homeless, and that more than 200 families are living in completely
inadequate conditions in an enclosed space under a viaduct;
- calling on the municipal authorities to immediately provide emergency relief including
food, water and access to medical assistance to people who have been made homeless as a
result of the forced eviction;
- calling on the authorities to ensure that all the families who were forcibly evicted are
provided with adequate alternative accommodation and compensation for all losses and
guaranteed the right to an effective remedy;
- expressing concern that riot police appear to have used excessive force on 18 June, and
asking the authorities to order an immediate, thorough and independent investigation;
- calling on the authorities to cease all forced evictions immediately, and implement a
long-term, detailed housing policy to address homelessness in Sao Paulo.


APPEALS TO:
Mayor of Sao Paulo
Exmo. Prefeito de Sao Paulo, Sr. Gilberto Kassab
Viaduto do Cha 15, Centro - Edificio Matarazo
01002-020 - Sao Paulo/SP
BRAZIL
Fax: 011 55 11 3113.8015
Salutation: Vossa Excelencia/ Your Excellency

Federal Human Rights Secretary
Exmo. Ministro da Secretaria
Especial de Direitos Humanos
Sr. Paulo Vannuchi, Esplanada dos Ministerios
Bloco T, 70064-900 - Brasilia – DF
BRAZIL
Fax: 011 55 61 3226 7980
Salutation: Vossa Excelencia/ Your Excellency

Public Security Secretary
Exmo. Secretario de Estado Sr. Antonio Ferreira Pinto
Rua Libero Badaro, 39
12° andar - Centro 01.009-000 - Sao Paulo/SP
BRAZIL
Fax: 011 55 11 3291-6834
Salutation: Vossa Excelencia/ Your Excellency

COPIES TO:
President of the Municipal Commission of Human Rights
Exmo. Presidente da Comissao
Municipal dos Direitos Humanos Dr. Jose Gregori
Patio do Colegio, 5 – Centro – Sao Paulo – SP, CEP 01016-040
BRAZIL
Fax: 011 55 11 3106 0030

The Homeless Movement of Central Sao Paulo
Movimento Sem-Teto do Centro
Avenida Sao Joao, 1495 - 2º andar, Metro Santa Cecilia
Sao Paulo, SP, CEP 01211-000
BRAZIL

Ambassador Antonio de Aguiar Patriota
Brazilian Embassy
3006 Massachusetts Avenue NW
Washington, D.C. 20008
Fax: 1 202 238 2827
Email: ambassador@brasilemb.org


PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY.
Check with the AIUSA Urgent Action office if sending appeals after 4 August 2009.


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action date (if applicable). Thank you for your help with this appeal.

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