Urgent Action 10-29-10

URGENT ACTION APPEAL
- From Amnesty International USA

To learn about recent Urgent Action successes and updates, go to
http://www.amnestyusa.org/iar/success
----------------------------------
For a print-friendly version of this Urgent Action (PDF):
http://www.amnestyusa.org/actioncenter/actions/uaa22910.pdf

29 October 2010

UA 229/10 Risk of Forced Eviction

BRAZIL Community of Restinga

The community of Restinga is in imminent risk of forced eviction due to the construction of a highway in Recreio dos Bandeirantes, Rio de Janeiro. After months of threats, on 22 October at 9:00am council workers accompanied by heavily armed civil and military police began bulldozing a commercial district that has existed for over twenty years, destroying five shops.

The community was not given any prior warning of the operation, which involved over a hundred state functionaries including heavily armed police. When they challenged council workers to produce a judicial order for the demolitions, they were told this was not needed and that they should "keep quiet" and "not interfere". Residents demanded that the workers produce identification, but were threatened with arrest.

Council workers told residents that they would return by 5 November to demolish houses and that if there was any resistance they would use force and take away their belongings. One resident told Amnesty International that on 22 October council workers destroyed his shop without warning, forcing him to construct a make-shift stall to protect his goods and machinery. Three days later, the council returned and removed his stall, taking his merchandise away.

Since the announcement of the intention to build the Transoeste highway and the release of lists of communities effected , including Restinga, residents of the 153 family-strong community which was established over 50 years ago, have never received any notification of the council's plans or opportunities to discuss the matter with officials. Residents told Amnesty International that on a previous attempt to carry out the eviction on 22 July, council workers arrived unannounced and sprayed "SMH" (Secretaria Municipal de Habitação) on the houses to be removed. They were told that their houses would be demolished in five days and council workers tried to make residents sign documents without allowing them to read them, offering them apartments in housing estates 30 kms away. They were also told if they tried to judicially challenge the decision they would be left with nothing. Only after the intervention of the Public Defenders Office was the eviction averted.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION
The city of Rio de Janerio is currently undergoing extensive infrastructural works to prepare for the hosting of the World Cup in 2014 and the Olympic Games in 2016. Three transport corridors for express bus services are planned, the TransOlímpica, TransOeste e TransCarioca. Many communities are now threatened with eviction along these routes. According to Rio de Janeiro’s Public Defenders Office (Defensoria Pública) in many cases the municipal authorities have been acting illegally by denying basic information to the communities affected, failing to negotiate with communities or explore alternatives to evictions, and not offering adequate alternative housing.

Many of the residents Amnesty International has spoken to said that the council was pressuring them to leave their homes. They also said that the level of compensation was inadequate for them to buy a similar house in their area and that the only alternative had been small apartments in housing estates 30-40 kilometres from where they were currently living. Many of these estates are in Campo Grande, the west zone of the city, which is currently dominated by mafia-like para-policing groups, and is unsuitable for resettlement.

Amnesty International visited the community of Restinga in October 2010. During the visit, residents gave Amnesty International delegates a statement which read: "we are suffering constant pressure, living in fear, without being able to sleep peacefully, frightened by the idea that we will be forced out without respect for our rights guaranteed in the constitution… we don’t have anywhere to go, many of us are elderly, retired, without family; others have children and grandchildren who study and work in the region… the council’s idea is for us to abandon our houses, our businesses and our social life in exchange for a miniscule apartment a long way from our region… we want the council to respect the laws… which give us the right to just compensation. We want to live in our neighbourhood, where we have set down roots."

RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible:
- Calling for an immediate moratorium on forced evictions of communities affected by the construction of the Transoeste highway, including Restinga;
- Urging that the authorities to fulfill their obligations under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, municipal law and the Brazilian Constitution, giving residents full and timely information about government proposals affecting their community, engaging in a genuine negotiation with the community to explore all alternatives to eviction, and where necessary offering full compensation or alternative, adequate housing close to the existing community;
Calling on the authorities to investigate all alleged illegal actions, threats and intimidation on the part of the authorities against communities allocated for eviction.

APPEALS TO:

Prefeito
Eduardo Paes
Prefeitura Municipal do Rio de Janeiro
Centro Administrativo São Sebastião
Rua Afonso Cavalcanti, 455
Cidade Nova (Estácio)
20.211-110 - Rio de Janeiro/RJ –
BRASIL
Fax: 011 55 21 2273 9977
Salutation: Exmo. Sr. Prefeito

Secretário Municipal de Habitação
Pierre Batista
Secretaria Municipal de Habitação – SMH
Rua Afonso Cavalcanti, 455 / 4º andar - Anexo – Cidade Nova
Cep: 20.211 - 110
Fax: 011 55 21 2293-8694
Salutation: Exmo. Sr. Secretário

COPIES TO:

Dr. Alexandre Mendes
Núcleo de Terras e Habitação
Defensoria Pública Geral do Estado
Av. Marechal Câmara, 314, 2º andar – Centro
20.020-080 - Rio de Janeiro/RJ –
BRASIL

Ambassador Antonio de Aguiar Patriota
Brazilian Embassy
3006 Massachusetts Ave. NW
Washington DC 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 10 December 2010.

----------------------------------
Tip of the Month:
Write as soon as you can. Try to write as close as possible to the date a case is issued.

** POSTAGE RATES **
Within the United States:
$0.28 - Postcards
$0.44 - Letters and Cards (up to 1 oz.)
To Canada:
$0.75 - Postcards
$0.75 - Airmail Letters and Cards (up to 1 oz.)
To Mexico:
$0.79 - Postcards
$0.79 - Airmail Letters and Cards (up to 1 oz.)
To all other destination countries:
$0.98 - Postcards
$0.98 - Airmail Letters and Cards (up to 1 oz.)

Amnesty International is a worldwide grassroots movement that promotes and defends human rights.

This Urgent Action may be reposted if kept intact, including contact information and stop action date (if applicable). Thank you for your help with this appeal.

Urgent Action Network
Amnesty International USA
600 Pennsylvania Ave SE 5th fl
Washington DC 20003
Email: uan@aiusa.org
http://www.amnestyusa.org/urgent/
Phone: 202.544.0200
Fax: 202.675.8566
----------------------------------
END OF URGENT ACTION APPEAL
----------------------------------