CONFIDENTIAL PAGE 01 BRASIL 07680 01 OF 02 031904Z 53 ACTION ARA-10 INFO OCT-01 ISO-00 DHA-02 CIAE-00 DODE-00 PM-04 H-02 INR-07 L-03 NSAE-00 NSC-05 PA-01 PRS-01 SP-02 SS-15 USIA-06 AID-05 PC-01 SCCT-01 IO-10 /076 W --------------------- 078878 R 031745Z SEP 75 FM AMEMBASSY BRASILIA TO SECSTATE WASHDC 1294 C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 1 OF 2 BRASILIA 7680 E.O.11652: GDS TAGS: SHUM, PINT, BR SUBJECT: HUMAN RIGHTS: STATUS REPORT REF: A. STATE 163275 B. BRASILIA 2462 SUMMARY: SWEEP OF ARRESTS FOLLOWING PCB PRINTING PRESS DISCOVERY HAS CONTINUED AS HAVE REPORTS OF TORTURE AND EVEN KILLLINGS. DAILY NEWPAPERS HAVE AGAIN BEGUN TO HEAR FROM CENSORS, ALTHOUGH INSTANCES HAVE BEEN VERY FEW, AND NEWSWEEKLY VEJA IS UNDER INCREASED CENSORSHIP PRESSURE. DEATH SQUAD ACTIVITIES RESURFACED IN RIO DE JANEIRO STATE BUT REMAINED UNNOTED IN REST OF COUNTRY. ISSUE OF HUMAN RIGHTS HAS RECEDED FROM CENTER OF POLITICAL STAGE, BUT REMAINS CLOSELY LINKED TO DISTENSION. LATTER HAS HALTED: WHILE SIGNS REGARDING RETROGRESSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS ARE MIXED, IT IS AT LEAST CLEAR THAT PROGRESS HAS BEEN HALTED,AND SIGNS OF ITS IMMINENT RESUMPTION ARE NOWHERE TO BE SEEN. END SUMMARY. 1. SINCE OUR LAST OVERALL REPORT ON HUMAN RIGHTS (REF B), DEVELOPMENTS HAVE OCCURRED IN THE AREAS OF ARBITRARY ARREST AND TORTURE, PRESS CENSORSHIP, AND WHAT WE HAVE CALLED "THE PPLITICAL DIMENSION". IN ADDITION, THERE HAS BEEN A RESURGENCE OF "DEATH SQUAD" ACTIVITIES IN RIO DE JANEIRO STATE. 2. THE SWEEP OF ARRESTS FLOWING FROM THE DISCOVERY OF PCB PRINTING PRESSES IN EARLY 1975 CONTINUED, AS DID REPORTS, CONFIDENTIAL CONFIDENTIAL PAGE 02 BRASIL 07680 01 OF 02 031904Z USUALLY DELAYED , OF ABUSE OF PRISONERS. REGARDING AARRESTS IN GENERAL IN NATIONAL SECURITY CASES, CONGEN SAO PAULO REPORTED LAWYERS IN THE FIELD APPEAR TO CONSIDER THE "OVERSHELMING MAJORITY" OF THEM TO BE ARBITARY OR EVEN ILLEGAL. REASONS CITED INCLUDE THE MANNER OF THE ARRESTS , IN WHICH AGENTS OFTEN PRODUCE NO IDENTIFICATIONS AND THE PRISONERS ARE IMMEDIATELY HOODED: THE GENERAL "FISHING EXPEDITION" NATURE OF MANY OF THE ARRESTS: THE HOLDING OF PRISONERS IINCOMMUNICADO: AND FAILURE TO RESPECT THE REQUIREMENTS OF THE NATIONAL SECUTITY LAW REGARDING NNOTIFICATION AND TIME LIMITS ON DETENTION. IN ADDITION, CONGEN CONTINUED, "MANY LAWYERS CONSIDER THE LAW ITSELF, A DECREE-LAW PASSED WITOUT CONGRESSIONAL SANCTION, TO BE A 'FRACONIAN' AND UNCONSTITUTIONAL MEASURE INCONSISTANT WITH BRAZIL'S OBLIGATIONS UNDER THE UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF HUMANN RIGHTS". CONGEN RIO NOTED THAT THE "CLIMATE OF URGENCY" SURROUNDING THEPCB INVESTIGATIONS LED TO THE ARREST OF INNOCENT PERSONS, RESULTING NOT ONLY IN EMBASRRASSMENT FOR GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS BUT IN SUBSTANTIAL DAMAGE TO THE PRISONERS' PROFESSIONAL AND FINANCIAL SITUATIONS. 3. IN GENERAL, THE PATTERN OF THE ARRESTS APPEARS TO HAVE BEEN THAT SOME OR EVEN MOST OF THOSE ARRESTED EITHER PROMPTLY OR EVENTUALLY HAVE THEIR SITUATIONS REGULARIZED UNDER THE NATINAL SECURITY LAW. IN THESE CASES, ORDINARY JUDICIAL PROCEDURES COME INTO PLAY (ALTHOUGH IN THE MILITARY COURT SYTEM), AND THE NAMES OF THOSE BEING PROCESSED (AND OFTEN SOME INFORMATION ABOUT THEIR ALLEGED CRIMES) ARE PUBLISHED INNEWSPAPERS. WE HAVE REPEATEDLY HEARD, HOWEVER, THAT IN OTHER CASES THOSE PICKED UP ARE TORTURED AND SUBSEQUENTLY KILLED. SO FAR, THERE HAVE BEEN ONLY TWO NEW INSTANCES THAT WE KNOW OF THIIS YEAR OF POLITICAL CASES IN WHICH THE SUBJECT HAS "DISAPPEARED", BUT IF THE ABOVE-MENTIONED REPORTS ARE WELL FOUNDED, IT MAY BE ANTIDIPATED THAT THE "MISSING-PERSONS" LIST WILL EVENTUALLY GROW. 4. IT SHOULD BE NOTED THAT EVEN INTHE CASES OF THOSE PRISONERS WHOSE SITUATIONS ARE REGULARIZED, CHARGES OF TORTURE SOMETIMES EMERGE. REPORTED CONGEN SAO PAULO, "SO FAR THIS YEAR THE SAO PAULO ARCHIOCESAN COMMITTEE OF JUSTICE AND PEACE HAS RECEIVED DENUNCIATIONS CONCERNING 171 CASES OF TORTURE IN SAO PAULO". IN SALVADOR (BAHIA) ARRESTS OF PEOPLE CHARGE D WITH LINKS TO THE PCB HAD VARIOUS POSITIVE ASPECTS, ** *****A$)* $** NNN ADP000 CONFIDENTIAL PAGE 01 BRASIL 07680 02 OF 02 031915Z 53 ACTION ARA-10 INFO OCT-01 ISO-00 DHA-02 CIAE-00 DODE-00 PM-04 H-02 INR-07 L-03 NSAE-00 NSC-05 PA-01 PRS-01 SP-02 SS-15 USIA-06 AID-05 PC-01 SCCT-01 IO-10 /076 W --------------------- 079142 R 031745Z SEP 75 FM AMEMBASSY BRASILIA TO SECSTATE WASHDC 1295 C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 2 OF 2 BRASILIA 7680 7. PUZZLING TO MANY OBSERVERS WAS THE CENSORS' USE OF THE TELEPHONE, WHICH LEFT THE PAPERS UNCERTAIN AS TO THE AUTHORITY OF THE MESSAGE. SOME SPECULATED THAT EITHER THE GOVERNMENT WAS EXPERIEMENTING WITH A LESS TRACEABLE TECHNIQUE, OR INDIVIDUAL CENSORS WERE INDULGING IN FREE-WHEELING. CLEARER STILL WAS THE REQUIREMENT IMPOSED ON THE NEWSWEEKLY VEJA THAT IT SUBMIT ITS MATERIAL IN ADVANCE IN BRASILIA, INSTEAD OF PASSING IT THROUGH FEDERAL CENNSORS IN SAO PAULO AS PREVIOUSLY. DEPT. WILL RECALL THAT THIS REQUIREMENT WAS ESTABLISHED FOR VEJA OVER A YEAR AGO, BUT WAS DROPPED BEFORE GOING INTO EFFECT BECAUSE OF THE PUBLISHERS' PROTESTS THAT THE REQUIREMENT WAS PHYSICALLY AND FINANCIALLY UNWORKABLE AND WOULD KILL THE MAGAZINE. CONGEN SAO PAULO HAS JUST REPORTED HEARING THAT THELATEST IMPOSTION OF THE REQUIREMENT HAS ALSO BEEN SUSPENDED, APPARENTLY FOR A TWO-WEEK TRIAL PERIOD. THE SUBJECT OF CENSORSHIP IN THE ARTS CONTINUES TO RECEIVE ATTENTION, BUT NO SIGNS OF PROGRESS ARE EVIDENT. IN FACT, THE DOMENANT TV GLOBO CHAIN HAS JUST DECIDED NOT TO RUN ITS LATEST NOVELA (A KIND OF HIGH-POWERED SOAP OPERA, EXTREMELY POPULAR HERE) WHEN CENSORS RULED JUST BEFORE IT WAS TO BEGIN THAT IT HAD TO RUN AT A LATER, LESS PRIME, TIME, AND MADE CUTS WHICH, ACCORDINGTO A PRESS QUOTE OF AN UNIDENTIFIED NETWRLK OFFICIAL, WOULD MAKE KACH EPISODE (USUALLY ABOUT 40-50 MINUTES) ONLY 15 MINUTES LONG. 8. DEATH SQUAD ACTIVITY WAS NOT OTED DURING THE PERIOD, WITH THE EXCEPTION OF RIO DE JANEIRO STATE (WHICH AS DEPT KNOWS CONFIDENTIAL CONFIDENTIAL PAGE 02 BRASIL 07680 02 OF 02 031915Z HAS BEEN TROUBLE SPOT IN THIS REGARD). REPORTEDCONGEN RIO, "THE DEATH SQUADS IN THE FORMER STATE OF RIO DE JANEIRO HAVE BECOME INCREASINGLY ACTIVE, WITH LARGE NUMBERS OF BODIES (SUPPOSEDLY OF CRIMINALS) BEING DISCOVERED IN RIVERS AND THICKTS IN SUBURBAN AREAS ON A REGULAR BASIS. THIS INTENSIFICATION OF DEATH- SQUAD ACTIVITIY IS BEING REPORTED IN THE PRESS AND APPEARS TO BE TAKING PLACE DESPITE SINCERE AND VIGOUOUS EFFORTS OF NEW RCH DE JANEIRO STATESECRETARY FOR SECURITY, GENERAL KOMINGUEZ, TO REORGANIZE THE POLICE OF THENEW STATE AND ELIMINATE CORRUPTION". 9. THEPOLTIICAL DIMENSION: WITH THE EFFECTIVE BLOCKING OF THE PARLIAMENTARY COMMISSIONOF INQUIRY ON HUMAN RIGHTS (BRASILIA 2322) AND OF THE CONVOCATION OF JUSTICEMINISTER FALCAO TO DISCUSS "MISSING PERSONS" (BRASILIA 2792), THE ISSUE OF HUMAN RIGHTS RECEDED FROM THE CENTRAL POSTIION IT HAD OCCUPIED ON THE POLITICAL STAGE. OPPOSITION (MDB) MEMBERS HAVE COONTINUED TO SPEAK ON THEISSUE,AND THEIR COMMENTS, AND THOSE OF OTHERS INTERESTED, ARE CARRIED IN THE PRESS. THE BRAZILIAN ORDER OF LAWYERS (OAB) DIRECTED A MESSAGE OFPROTEST TO PRESIDENT GEISEL ABOUT THE VIOLATION OF THE RIGHTS OF LAWYERS AND OTHERS, AND ALSO BEGAN TO PLUMP FOR GREATER ACTIVITY ON THE PART OF THE HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL (COUNCIL FOR THE DEFENSE OF THE RIGHTS OF THE HUMAN PERSON). THE LATTER IDEA REPRESENTAS A CHANGE OF POSITION OF THE OAB, WHICH PREVIOUSLY HAD PREFERRED TO IGNORE THE COUNCIL AS A DECK HOPELESSLY STACKED WITH GOVERNMENT REPRESENTATIVES. THE MDB CAME UP WITH A CONGRESSIONAL PROJECT TO RE-ORGANIZE AND RE-ACTIVATE THE COUNCIL, BUT OUR MOST RECENT INFORMATION WAS THATTHE PROJECT WAS STILL STALLED IN COMMITTEE AND SEEMED LIKELY TO STAY THERE. (IN THE SAME VEIN, REPORTS SOME MONTHS AGO THAT THE GOVERNMENT WAS GOINNG TO HOLD A MEETING OF THE COUNCIL HAVE, SO FAR AT LEAST, PROVED GROUNDLESS.) 10. THE TIGHT LINKAGE BETWEEN THE CONDITION OF HUMAN RIGHTS AND DISTENSION REMAINS IN EFFECT. DISTENSION ESSENTIALLY CAME TO A HALT WITH GEISEL'MMS AUGUST 1 SPEECH (BRASILIA 6516). (BRASILIA 5981 AND ITS REFS DISCUSS THE PRESSURES AND PROBLEMS LEADING TO THE DECISION.) IRONICALLY, ONE OF THEELEMENTS STIMULATING HARD-LINE MILITARY PRESSURE ON THE GOVERNMENT WAS PRECISELY THE NOW-LAPSED DRIVE ON HUMAN RIGHTS AND "MISSING PERSONS", WHICH THREATENED TO (AS THE MUCH-USED PHARASE HAD IT)"PUT THE REVOLUTION IN THE PRISONER'S DOCK". THE SENSE OF STANDSTILL CONFIDENTIAL CONFIDENTIAL PAGE 03 BRASIL 07680 02 OF 02 031915Z REGARDING DISTENSION IS REFLECTED IN THE HUMAN RIGHTS AREA. 11. INDEED, REGARDING HUMAN RIGHTS IN GENERAL THERE ARE ELEMENTS EVEN OF RETROGRESSION, BUT THE OVERALL SIGNALS ARE MIXED. THE ENCROACHMENTS IN THE PRESS CENSORHIP AREA CAN ONLY BE CONSIDERED RETROGRADE, ALTHOUGH THEIR EFFECT HAS BEEN MINOR AT MOST, AT LEAST SO FAR. GEISEL SPECIFICALLY REFERRED TOTHE LIBERALIZATION OF THE PRESS WHEN HE RATIFIED, IN THE AUGUST 1 SPEECH, THE ADVANCES ALREADY MADE UNDER DISTENSION: AND THE PRESS CONTINUES TO GIVE LIVELY TREATMENT TO THE FULL RANGE OF ISSUES. THE RESURGENCE OF "DEATH-SQUAD" ACTIVITY IN RIO DE JANEIRO STATE, ACCOMPANIED BY OFFICIAL EFFORTS TO COMBAT IT, IS FINALLY NEUTRAL AS AN INDICATIN OF TRENDS. 12. THE EVIDENT INCREASE IN CASES OF TORTURE CAN LOGICALLY (GIVEN THE DISPOSITION TO USE IT) BE INTERPRETED AS A FUNCTION OF THE INCREASE IN NATIONAL-SECURITY ARRESTS, AN INCREASE RESULTING FROM THE PRINTING-PRESS DISCOVERY AND THE SUBSEQUENT INVESTIGATIONS. BY THE SAME TOKEN, OF COURSE, ASSUMING THAT THE INVESTIGATORY STRING EVENTUALLY RUNS OUT, A FUTURE DECREASE IN SUCH ARRESTS AND INSTANCES OF TORTURE MIGHT REASONABLY BE ANTICIPATED, WITHOUT SIGNIFYING THAT SUBSTANTIAL ABANDONMENT OF THE PRACTICE HAD OCCURRED. IF THE SIGNS REGARDING RETROGRESSION ARE MIXED, HOWEVER, IT IS AT LEAST CLEAR THAT PROGRESS HAS BEEN HALTED, AND SIGNS OF ITS IMMINENT RESUMPTION ARE NOWHERE TO BE SEEN. CRIMMINS CONFIDENTIAL NNN