Race and Equality launches the ‘Kátia Tapety Political Training School’

Race and Equality launches the ‘Kátia Tapety Political Training School’

Brazil, May 06th, 2022 – On May 10 (Tuesday), at 5 PM, the International Institute of Race, Equality and Human Rights (Race and Equality) promotes the launch of the Kátia Tapety Political Training School.   The inauguration will be at the Museum of Modern Art of Rio de Janeiro (MAM) and will be attended by the distinguished councilor, Kátia Tapety, and serve as well as a space for dialogue with women parliamentarians and representatives of social movements and civil society organizations.  The Kátia Tapety School of Political Training is the result of a project supported by the Open Society Foundations and the partnership with the Friedrich Ebert Foundation in Brazil.

Faced with the current political scenario in Brazil, involved in hate speech, attacks and persecution of parliamentarians and human rights defenders, whose targets are black and indigenous women – cis and trans, and the growing spread of fake news; Race and Equality created a School of Political Training that aims to prepare women (black, LBTI, indigenous and quilombolas) to participate safely and democratically in the electoral process in 2022.  To confront political and electoral gender violence, the organizations Associação Nacional de Travestis e Transexuais (ANTRA), Articulação Brasileira de Lésbicas (Red ABL) and Rede Nacional de Negras ee Negros LGBT (Red Afro LGBT), will be responsible for the nomination of pre-candidates from their networks to participate in the School of Political Training.

Thus, through technical and pedagogical training, classes will be held in a hybrid manner, from May to September, to serve women social leaders from all over Brazil who eventually have an interest in applying for an elective position in the country. The programmatic content also includes practical training so that candidates have the tools to face authoritarian policies and the necessary instrumentalization to claim their rights.  In this sense, the Kátia Tapety School of Political Training emerges as an instrument of strengthening and democratic protection to achieve full legitimacy and decision-making power in its political agendas.

“The growth of gender-based political and electoral violence in Brazil has become increasingly alarming.  In March 2021, Race and Equality, together with other organizations, denounced cases of several currently elected councilors before a hearing at the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) and, unfortunately, we continue to urge the Brazilian State to protect these women. The Kátia Tapety School of Political Training was born from this urgency to promote the active participation of women in politics in a safe and democratic way so that they have full autonomy to defend themselves from violence and guarantee their rights”, explains Carlos Quesada, Executive Director of Race and Equality.

About Kátia Tapety

Kátia Tapety was the first trans councilor elected in Brazil, in 1992, in the city of Colonia de Piauí – PI.   Various data indicate that, in fact, Kátia Tapety was the first trans woman elected to legislative office in Latin America, at a time when there was still a refusal to talk about guaranteeing civil, political and social rights for trans people. Born and raised in the country’ interior, Tapety saw and felt the effects of the military dictatorship, accompanied by the process of redemocratization of the country and, just four years after the promulgation of the citizen constitution of 1988, was elected the councilor with the highest number of votes in the municipality of Colonia do Piauí, in the rural area of Piauí.  In her political career she was appointed councillor in 1992, 1996 and 2000; Mayor of Colonia do Piauí in the biennium 2001-2002; and was finally elected vice-mayor in 2004.

Today, at the age of 74, and with an incredible life trajectory in the country that kills the most trans people in the world, Tapety faced racism and transphobia, leaving a legacy of rights and a path of openness to reach achievements for black, travesti and transgender women throughout Brazil.  Therefore, for Race and Equality, honoring her represents a process of rescuing not only memory, but mainly democratic ties. Kátia Tapety reminds us of the post-dictatorship hope that flourished in Brazil in the 1990s and of one of the milestones of the Brazilian constitution – promoting development and social equality without discrimination of any kind – and that today, more than ever, is urgent.

The Kátia Tapety School of Political Training has as its principle the unique desire to form more and more Katias throughout Brazil and around the world, strengthening civil participation in spaces of collective decision, expanding and improving democratic tools and contributing to the reduction of gender and race asymmetries in political participation at the regional, national and global level.

Agenda:

Launch of the Kátia Tapety Political Training School

Date and time: May 10th (Tuesday), 5pm to 7:30 pm (Brasília time)

Place: Cinematheque of the Museum of Modern Art of Rio de Janeiro (MAM)

Panel 1: Collective trajectories for the political participation of black, indigenous and LBTI women

Participants:

Rosângela Castro – Afro LGBT Network

Bruna Benevides – National Association of Transvestites and Transsexuals (ANTRA)

Michele Seixas – Brazilian Lesbian Articulation (ABL Network)

Panel 2: Articulations and strategies of black, indigenous and LBTI women to strengthen democracy in Brazil

Participants:

Kátia Tapety – Honoree and First Trans Afro Councilor  of Brazil

Samara Pataxó – Legal Advisor of the Articulation of the Indigenous Peoples of Brazil (APIB) and Head of the Center for Inclusion and Diversity of the General Secretariat of the Presidency of the Superior Electoral Tribunal (TSE).

Roberta Eugênio – Lawyer and Researcher at the Alziras Institute

Keila Simpson – President of the National Association of Transvestites and Transsexuals (ANTRA)

The event will be broadcast live via Zoom and Facebook Live and will feature simultaneous translation into Spanish and English (zoom only)

Zoom Link: https://bit.ly/3s5FS3x

*All safety protocols for COVID-19  will be required and carried out

*The event is not open to the general public

Protecting the Rights of Afro and Traditional Quilombola Brazilians: A Conversation Led by the Collective of Black Entities of Brazil

Washington DC, March 10, 2022 – The International Institute on Race, Equality and Human Rights (Race & Equality) and The Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA) cordially invite you to the following event: “Protecting the Rights of Afro and Traditional Quilombola Brazilians: A Conversation Led by the Collective of Black Entities of Brazil”.

Over the past decade, the crisis of police violence in Brazil against Afro and traditional Quilombola Brazilians has exacerbated exponentially. It is a known statistic that a Black Brazilian youth dies every 23 minutes in the country, yet there has been no accountability on behalf of the state. Likewise, the lives of traditionally Black peoples, like the Quilombola communities and those of Afro-Brazilian religions such as Candomblé, continue to be threatened daily, and the state has again lacked in enforcing accountability and protecting the rights of these communities. The Collective of Black Entities (CEN), a national entity of the Brazilian Black movement, has initiated several programs to bring media attention to the crisis and support Black Brazilians who have been wrongfully incarcerated. The CEN was founded in 2003 in Bahia, the capital of Salvador, and is present today in seventeen Brazilian states and three Latin American countries. 

Join us for an event on Monday, March 14 at 2:00 p.m. with Marcos Rezende and Yuri Silva, who will discuss the state of police violence against Black Brazilians and the struggle to guarantee the rights of these marginalized communities.

Event Details:
Monday, March 14, 2022

2:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. EST

In-person event at Race and Equality’s DC Office:

1620 Eye (I) St, NW, Suite 925

Washington, D.C., 20006

RSVP for in-person attendance by sending  a message to: calixto@oldrace.wp

This event will also be live streamed through Zoom: Register on Zoom

Simultaneous interpretation from Portuguese to English will be available.

Panelists:

Marcos Rezende – Founder Collective of Black Entities

Yuri Silva – National Coordinator Collective of Black Entities

Moderator: Nathaly Calixto – Race and Equality Brazil Program Officer 

Closing of Civic Spaces: Race and Equality, Criola, Geledés and Iepé in favor of the democratic participation of black and indigenous civil society

Brazil, February 23, 2022 – the International Institute on Race, Equality and Human Rights (Race and Equality) through the Latin American Human Rights Consortium, joined Brazilian civil society organizations: Criola, Geledés – Instituto da Mulher Negra and the Institute for Research and Indigenous Training (Iepé), to make visible Brazil’s situation regarding the participation of organized civil society in civic spaces. Focusing on black and indigenous populations, the research aims to produce a report to denounce, before international human rights mechanisms, the current regulatory frameworks that restrict freedom of association, limit freedom of expression and extinguish channels for civic participation in the country.

In view of the current global climate of democratic tensions, Latin American countries have been facing an uptick of restrictions and attacks that threaten the participation of organized civil society in decision-making spaces. In other words, with the closing and/or tightening of civic spaces, restrictive measures aggravate the harsh conditions that civil society organizations have faced every day for decades, including arbitrary arrests, enforced disappearances and murders of human rights defenders.

Added to this difficult scenario, the COVID-19 pandemic has particularly affected the region. Although some countries are among the highest numbers of infections and deaths in the world, the unequal distribution of vaccines, poor access to health services, the sharp drop in employment, and the lack of social protection systems, reveal that institutional weaknesses and structural problems that affect, especially the most vulnerable populations, have intensified. Under the pretext of maintaining security, the pandemic has also been used by governments in the region to impose greater restrictions on movement and freedom of expression, further limiting spaces for civil society to participate.

For David Alvarez Veloso, the Regional Race and Equality Coordinator for the Human Rights Consortium, this project is of paramount importance for the development and strengthening of democracy in the countries where civil society organizations play an active role in political and social life. It is also important to document and make visible the increasing restrictions and obstacles that have reduced spaces of participation. “With the support of the Consortium of Human Rights, and thanks to the work of organizations such as Criola, Geledés and Iepé in Brazil, among others, we have comparative and updated information on the effects these measures have on the different populations of the country. In this way, it is possible to empower leaders to strengthen the protection of human rights and articulate advocacy strategies at national and international levels, in order to end restrictions on citizen participation,” explains Alvarez.

Brazil and the history of threats to civil society participation

Towards the end of the dictatorial period in Brazil, civil society began to achieve voice and citizen participation to build new perspectives for a full democratic rule of law. In 1988, with the validity of a new Federal Constitution, a political conjecture came into force that valued more transparency of data, information, public budget and, also, as a new window of opportunities and rights for historically excluded groups, such as black, indigenous and LGBTI+ populations. However, since 2014, with the approval of constitutional amendments in the Dilma Roussef government – such as the anti-terrorism PEC and the sanctions related to state security until the coup d’état in 2016, which led to her impeachment – civil society’s relations with the State have intensified deeply.

These restrictive measures represented a blow to civil society because public demonstrations came to be understood as manifestations contrary to the interests of the State. However, what has been denounced by organized civil society is that during the current government of Jair Bolsonaro, the spaces for dialogue and guarantee of rights are practically null and for human rights defenders involve a dynamic of persecution, violence, surveillance and even death. The organizations denounce that even without a military decree or legal order to close civic spaces, the current relationship between the Executive and civil society prevents the debate of agendas and the presentation of social demands. In short, there is no dialogue.

Consequences for black and indigenous populations in Brazil

In November 2021, Race and Equality launched the webinar, “Closing spaces for participation: threats to civil society in Brazil, Honduras and Guatemala,” which was attended by representatives of civil society organizations, together with the vice president from Costa Rica, Epsy Campbell Barr, to denounce and outline proposals for the regional strengthening of civil society. The virtual event was attended by Lúcia Xavier, General Coordinator of Criola, who exposed the situation of persecution of human rights defenders and violations of democracy that make black and indigenous people even more vulnerable, with total erasure of their political agendas.

According to Lúcia Xavier, these attacks are reflected from the political violence that black women; cis and trans people, have been suffering with the contempt of the Executive. With lack of access to public information at the height of the pandemic, it was necessary to create a consortium between public and private sectors so that the population could follow the cases. Furthermore, Lúcia highlighted the death of human rights defenders both in cities and in the countryside, and that even protection programs are not adequately secure.

“The Brazilian Constitution guarantees the citizenship and participation of organized civil society in all policies. These sectors are not closed, these councils work, but the ability to admit and dialogue with other sectors of society no longer exists. Therefore, there is also no monitoring of policies and public budget in Brazil. Essentially, these laws immobilize the civil society participation format, and any demonstration can be considered as terrorism and a threat to national security,” emphasized Xavier during the event.” [1]

Faced with this situation of withdrawal of rights and silence, the questioning and search for justice is revealed as a path of dialogue for vulnerable populations. However, Rodnei Jericó da Silva, Coordinator of SOS Racismo do Geledés, sees with apprehension the 2022 electoral agenda, in which he believes that any incidence of civil society will overlap, but depending on the outcome of the elections there is a way for change and for civil society participation in decision-making spaces.

“The Brazilian population is mostly black, public policies or even social policies are debated in spaces where there was participation of society. The damage to the collective is enormous because the target audience is not being heard, which indicates that the possibility of error and ineffectiveness is much greater. Participation spaces improve the democratic system, strengthen society, which feels integral to the process, and together seek solutions to problems,” says Jericó.

The struggle of the indigenous population to not be completely decimated by the current government has been extremely challenging with the emptying of public institutions that ensure security and indigenous rights, such as the National Indian Foundation (FUNAI), in addition to attacks on communities and their territories throughout the country. In 2021, the vote of Marco Temporal, [2] until now suspended by the Supreme Court (STF), aims to remove the possession of indigenous lands guaranteed by the Constitution. According to Luis Donisete, Iepé’s Executive Coordinator, the closure of public spaces of indigenous and environmental policies in Brazil has major implications for the exercise of citizen participation and indigenous social control.

“The anti-democratic and anti-indigenous bias of the current government has been transformed into an orientation towards the policies of the Brazilian state, contrary to activism and the actions of organized civil society. The results are the abandonment of government programs and policies that implemented rights enshrined in our legislation in different areas: health, education, culture, territorial management, protection of indigenous lands. Today there are no more channels of dialogue between indigenous representatives and different governmental bodies. It is a huge setback that will take years and a lot of dedication to rebuild,” denounces Donisete.

In this context of uncertainties, denunciations and silencing of civil society in Brazil, Race and Equality makes a call to international human rights mechanisms for a framework that can be further aggravated with the elections taking place in the country in November 2022. Considering the setbacks and limitations to citizen participation mentioned above, and to strengthen the role of civil society in democratic life, it is important that the Brazilian state advances, among others, in:

 1 – As provided for in the Constitution and in the laws, guarantee the political participation of organized civil society in public institutions and decision-making spaces of power, with effective monitoring of policies and public budget;

2 – Ensuring transparency in access to public information and carrying out data collection for the construction of intersectional public policies, as provided by the Access to Information Law;

3 – Strengthen the Program for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, Communicators and Environmentalists (PPDDH), which has been falling apart, especially due to low budget execution, as well as the weakening of popular participation in the PPDDH Deliberative Council. [3]

4 – Create civil society participation councils taking into account the different realities of the Brazilian population. The councils must be a space for listening and decision-making for the most vulnerable populations, including black, indigenous, quilombolas, and gypsy peoples.

 

 

[1] These councils operate theoretically, but in practice they are unable to incorporate the perspective of civil society.

[2] https://g1.globo.com/politica/ao-vivo/supremo-judento-marco-temporal-terras-indigenas.ghtml

[3] https://terradedireitos.org.br/uploads/arquivos/Relatorio–Comeco-do-Fim.pdf

 

 

Interview with Jurema Werneck: The resounding voice of the Ialodês on Black Consciousness Day

To celebrate Black Consciousness Day, symbolized in Brazil as the memory and death of the quilombola leader Zumbi dos Palmares, the International Institute on Race, Equality and Human Rights (Race and Equality) is pleased to share an interview with Jurema Werneck, one of the main references of the black movement in the country. In addition to being the Director of Amnesty International in Brazil, Jurema is the founder of the NGO Criola. She has a Doctorate in Communication and Culture, as well as a Master’s degree in Production Engineering. Her professional career is proof that the intersectional perspective is essential to build plural knowledge, a diverse vision of the world and the society that constitutes it.

If November 20th makes us relive a memory of the struggle for racial consciousness and black freedom, Jurema Werneck is the personification of the Ialodês, which as she describes in a publication [1], “Ialodê also refers to the representation of women, to the types of emblematic women, female political leaders of fundamental urban action (…) the one who speaks for all and participates in instances of power (…) who position themselves as political agents of change, and  main holders of the conquered wealth.” We welcome the opportunity to present a summary of a rich conversation with Ialodê Jurema Werneck, who shared with us her perceptions of the struggle for human rights, police violence, femicide, black women, as well as her participation in the Covid CPI,[1] whose final report was delivered to the Brazilian Senate in October.

COVID-19 Pandemic

Race and Equality – Your participation in the Covid CPI reveals the consequences of denial and that, in the first year alone, 120 thousand lives could have been saved if we had followed world protocols and an effective public health policy. Could you tell us about the experience of participating in the Covid CPI process? Do you believe there will be consequences for the current government?

Jurema Werneck – The Covid CPI inquiry makes visible that everything done during the pandemic was done erroneously, it also demonstrates the type of people running the government. People who have no commitment to ethics, in fact their commitment is to take ownership of public affairs and profit from the country. I see that this ‘novela’ that developed into the Covid CPI, in a way, reminds us that there is a layer of interests, and that people are feeling the impact of all of this. And with that, the government’s approval plummets, because it’s a fact, there’s no government, it’s misgovernment.

Participating in the CPI was a collective effort. I was the spokesperson for several organizations including Amnesty International. We agreed that I would be the spokesperson. My work was to prepare and present the research that was commissioned even before the CPI, which was carried out by researchers from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ) and the University of São Paulo (USP). It was a survey presented to the Federal Government, and we believed the CPI was our opportunity. This also helped legitimize a perception that everything could have been different. Moreover, our work looks to demonstrate that even without a vaccine [2] lives could have been saved if basic public health was addressed. Other than that, personally, it was a practice of everyday activism, I went there to do what I wanted to do, so I found it to be a privilege.

And now, with more than 600,000 lives lost and a scenario where there is finally a vaccine to combat the pandemic, the government deniers still remain in power. How do we confront the pandemic in the coming years?

Jurema Werneck – We call him a negationist, but he is not a negationist. He has an alliance with strategies of death and destruction. There is a political project, it is an actively defined trajectory. It is not only a refusal, but also participating in an extremely dangerous movement that is opposite to life.

Brazil remains under permanent torture. He is a torturer who inflicts pain, either from the poor management of the pandemic or from any other chapter of his “administration.” Where do we go from here? We have to remember that it was not only him, but the pandemic also has a responsibility at the state and municipal level. Amnesty launched a campaign last year aimed at governors and mayors, including municipalities on behalf of indigenous and quilombola rights. The operation of the system demonstrates a joint responsibility, it’s not only the responsibility of legislation. So, in other words, the range of people involved in the 600,000 deaths is not a simple task.

I see that this also has a repercussion in society and in a way in all of us. 600,000 deaths represents a great deal of tragedy and behind these deaths there is a huge contingent of mourners, including orphans, the sequels of COVID-19. The legacy it has is outside of ethics, politics and public health, with the further deepening of social inequalities. It was black women who paid the highest price and who died the most from COVID-19 in the beginning. In other words, the number of challenges and sequels that we have to face is very large.

Police Violence

Race and Equality – Recently, Michelle Bachelet, UN Commissioner for Human Rights, denounced in her report on police violence and systemic racism the dimensions police brutality operates in the lives of black people, she cited the cases of Luana Barbosa and João Pedro in Brazil. From an intersectional perspective, black LGBTI+ people, especially transgender people in prison, are among the victims of acts of racism and LGBTIphobia. How can we resist racism and LGBTIphobia in a society that considers black bodies killable and disposable?

 Jurema Werneck – The first way for us to act on this theme is to recognize and highlight the urgency, because they are cases of life and death. They are killing people. People are dying physically and existentially. Today the situation is so bad that I am celebrating the small victories of discursive achievements. Since Amnesty International began working on police lethality and the death of young black people, we have been engaging with the UN High Commissioner on the issue. It’s good to see Michelle Bachelet talk about the issue at hand, because it was her duty, but it’s still a small victory. Unfortunately, this won’t save Luana’s life because she’s already dead, the situation is extremely severe with death as our indicator— it’s murder. Our condition is grave and dire, and the point of departure is already the bloodiest tip of the iceberg.

The black movement has been working on this for a long time. In 1978, the murder of a young black man inspired a group of representatives of federations of various organizations to congregate at the stairs of the Municipal Theater in São Paulo, creating the Unified Movement against Police Violence, which later came to be known as the Unified Black Movement (MNU). However, we went from 1978 until very recently discussing amongst ourselves. It had no United Nations, no white organization and no human rights organizations. There was no national law addressing race, it was only in the United States. Sueli Carneiro, Lélia Gonzalez and Amauri Mendes, among others were at that time trying to hegemonize the struggle. What I’m saying is that we have small victories, but they’re not enough. What we want is to save lives right now, because people are dying. And that’s not enough, and that’s our anguish. The political transformation process is time-consuming, it does not save all the lives it needs to.

We can’t account for how much of Bachelet’s speech influences saving lives, but it ends up in some way influencing, not just because it pulls the brakes on certain hands, or fingers on the trigger, it is the United Nations after all. On the other hand, there are others who ignore figures like Bachelet, because the president said something else, and they will listen to the president. If we have the president on one side and Bachelet on the other, we are trying to create strategy. We are trying to tie the game to give us space to keep fighting. As an activist, I don’t see a way out that isn’t a struggle. We know where we want to go, and how to save people’s lives. How long will it take? We know it’s not a linear trajectory. What tools are needed? All. Change can only be made with struggle.

Femicide and Black Women

Race and Equality – The ‘Atlas of Violence 2021’ confirmed the unfortunate statistic that black women are the most targeted victims of violence in Brazil: 66% of women murdered, showing that in 11 years, the homicide of this population increased by 2%, while the murder of non-black women dropped 27% in the same period (3).  Could you comment on this racist violence that makes black women the biggest victims of femicide.

Jurema Werneck – In racist regimes, black men and women will be the biggest victims of violence. Whatever the classification of violence, we will be the biggest victims along with the indigenous people and the gypsies. It’s inescapable and that’s why we want to end racism. We managed to influence the government and UN Women to create statistics and demonstrate what we already knew; we are the most targeted victims. The complexity of this phenomenon means remembering that racism is patriarchal and cis-heteronormative, as the NGO Criola says. In this core of intersectionality, we can identify the victims; they are black trans women and black cis women. It is worth remembering that trans women are not in this femicide statistic and, even so, we know that victimization among them is even greater than among cis women. It is important to emphasize that we are also victims of police led homicides outside of gender relations.

What I’m trying to say is, take a death stat and you’ll find the black woman there. In recent years we have been the ones who have hegemonized this discourse. However, there is still a lot of progress to be made, even more so now that everything has been dismantled. In the debate for the creation of the Maria da Penha Law. We already said that a mechanism had to be put in place to confront racism, because black women were the biggest victims. Brazil still celebrates this law to this day, but those people who built and hegemonized the Maria da Penha Law excluded and refused to put in place mechanisms to protect the lives of black women. These are the people who say we have to go to the police, but since when is the police an ally of a black woman or any black person? It is necessary to face racism and denounce it wherever you are. The Maria da Penha Law works for white women because it was built for them. We need to find another mechanism or reform this one to work.

Amidst the struggles and challenges of the Brazilian black population shared by Jurema Werneck in this interview, Race and Equality reaffirms the importance of the anti-racist perspective in confronting the violence and oppression that systematically dehumanize and erase black people. It is through the commitment to an anti-racist and feminist agenda, and confronting neoliberal policies that undermine rights, that we envision a horizon of collective responsibility and a future in which human rights are, in fact, a possible language of respect for all the ways of being and existing. Thus, we recommend to the Brazilian State:

1 – Implement reparation policies for the victims of COVID- 19 and their families, whether orphans, those bereaved, and the long-term sequelae due to the virus;

2 – Produce intersectional indicators on police brutality against black women;

3 – Implement the Inter-American Convention against Racism as a legal instrument to change and create laws to combat racism;

 

 

[1] Text “De Ialodês e Feministas: Reflexões sobre a ação política de mulheres negras na América Latina e no Caribe”

[2] At the time of the CPI research and its presentation, there was still no vaccine for COVID-19

[3] https://www.uol.com.br/universa/noticias/redacao/2021/08/31/atlas-da-violencia-2021.htm

[Note] The COVID-19 CPI, also known as Pandemic CPI, Coronavirus CPI, or simply COVID CPI, is a parliamentary commission of inquiry undergoing in Brazil, with the goal to investigate alleged omissions and irregularities in federal government spending during the COVID-19 pandemic in Brazil

Salgueiro Massacre – Brazilian black population calls for help!: Race and Equality condemns genocide against the black population and calls to guarantee the life of black people

Brazil, November 25th 2021 – On the basis of the International Declaration of Human Rights, according to which life is an inalienable right, Race and Equality urges the international community to pay attention to police violence taking place in Brazil. We denounce yet another massacre taking place during the global pandemic, in the city ​​of São Gonçalo, in Rio de Janeiro. It is important to mention that the black movement considers that violence resulting from structural racism in Brazil must be seen as genocide against the black population. In fact, when analyzing the situation of the Brazilian black population in its country report, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) mentions that there appears to be a process of “social cleansing, aimed at exterminating sectors considered “undesirable””, which happens with state support. [1]

A year ago, and on the eve of Black Consciousness Day, João Alberto was brutally murdered by property security agents in Carrefour market [2]. In 2021, the trend of violence against black and poor bodies is repeated a day after the same date that calls out to society for a conscience about black struggle and freedom. If the State ignores the anti-racism agenda made in favor of its people, how will we build a black history that does not include pain, suffering and violence? The result of this policy of fear and terror is yet another bloody killing: the Salgueiro Massacre.

On Monday, November 22, residents of the favela complex located in São Gonçalo, metropolitan region of Rio de Janeiro, woke up recovering bodies in the community’s mangrove swamps. So far, nine bodies have been found (residents say 20) [3], both men and women, and even an elderly woman who was shot in the arm. In addition, residents denounce that many innocent victims lost their lives in retaliation for the death of a police officer. The reports of this massacre are from mothers who had to remove the bodies of their family sunk in the mangrove swamp. No weapons were found among the bodies [4]. Orphaned families from yet another tragedy that could have been avoided if the Military Police of Rio de Janeiro had not acted through revenge. Thus, we asked Governor Claudio Castro – who authorized the police operation?

We continue to denounce the State’s complete disregard of complying with the restrictions placed by the Supreme Court on police operations in the favelas of Rio de Janeiro during the pandemic, known as the ‘ADPF das Favelas’ throughout 2021. Institutional racism and police brutality continue to be the State’s daily exchange of life and death towards the black population. Tragedies are enumerated in black bodies this year; 21 dead in the Jacarezinho Massacre in May; 14 dead in the Salgueiro Massacre in November. Bullets, which are considered “lost” by the police, were found in a dead pregnant woman, Katheleen Romeo back in June.

Furthermore, data from the Rede de Observatório da Segurança (Security Observatory Network) serves to confirm the lethality of police intervention in Rio de Janeiro: In 2021, 71% of the killings in Rio de Janeiro were carried out by state agents, totaling in 128 deaths. A survey by the Instituto de Segurança Pública (Public Security Institute) corroborates this – from January to July, 811 people died in police actions, a 38% of total homicides and an increase of 88.2% over the same period last year. This figure represents the highest percentage in the last 15 years. [5].

Considering the facts, Race and Equality refers to the Inter-American Convention against Racism and Related Forms of Intolerance and calls the attention of all protection mechanisms under international law that have pledged to cooperate to prevent and punish acts of killings of vulnerable populations around the world. We urge that international law treaties be enforced in the face of the extermination policies of the Military Police and the acceptance of violence by Brazilian governments. The Brazilian black population asks for help, because, to ask for peace, it is first necessary to have the right to live.

Finally, we urge the Brazilian State to make the following recommendations:

1 – Urge the local government of the state of Rio de Janeiro so that those responsible for the Salgueiro Massacre do not go unpunished.

2 – The creation of laws and mechanisms with an intersectional and anti-racist focus to curb and punish violent police actions in favelas.

3 – The veto of the anti-terrorism bill, already approved by the Chamber and which is going to be approved by the Senate, whose proposal approves the exclusion of illegality for police officers during their operations and creates the secret police for the President.

4 – The construction of an educational anti-racism agenda for the military police and all national public security agents.

 

[1] http://www.oas.org/en/cidh/relatorios/pdfs/Brasil2021-en.pdf

[2] https://www.poder360.com.br/brasil/saiba-quem-era-joao-alberto-espancado-ate-a-morte-no-supermercado-carrefour/

[3] Official data not yet released

[4]https://extra.globo.com/casos-de-policia/resgatamos-os-corpos-nao-achamos-nenhuma-arma-fizeram-uma-chacina-diz-morador-do-complexo-do-salgueiro-25286728. html

[5]https://g1.globo.com/rj/rio-de-janeiro/noticia/2021/09/03/no-rj-38percent-dos-homicidios-foram-cometidos-por-policiais-em-7-meses- e-proporcao-bate-recorde.ghtml

Lesbian Visibility Day in Brazil: Luana Barbosa Case – “If not for us, no one will be”*

Brazil, August 29, 2021 – The month of August in Brazil highlights and marks the struggles of lesbian women. It’s a month that honors Lesbian Pride— August 19 specifically references the first manifestation of lesbian women, known as the “Brazilian Stonewall,” in São Paulo, in 1983. Banned from distributing the bulletin, “Chanacomchana,” Brazil’s first lesbian activist publication, the activists decided to occupy Ferro’s Bar’ claiming their rights and denouncing lesbophobia. August 29 also calls for the right to freedom of expression and representation as it represents Lesbian Visibility Day. It was during the first National Lesbian Seminar (Senale) held in Rio de Janeiro, in 1996, that the date was created to denounce the erasure and highlight lesbian experiences within the LGBTI+ and feminist movement.

To stress the importance of ‘Lesbian Visibility,’ Race and Equality brings to the surface the Luana Barbosa Case, which completes five years this year. The murder of 34-year-old Luana Barbosa dos Reis Santos, in 2016, in Ribeirão Preto (SP), denotes the complete invisibility black lesbian women endure, the absence of their social and individual rights, and moreover it symbolizes why lesbians need to claim a fight for visibility, rights and integral security.

Luana was the victim of brutal police violence. After being approached by three military police officers, she refused to be searched and demanded the presence of a female police officer. In the company of her son, mother and neighbors, Luana was brutally beaten by the police and as a result died five days after the attack due to cerebral ischemia and brain trauma. The brutality of her death reveals the intricacies of police actions in Brazil towards black LGBTI+ people, who, in addition to possessing a color that equates to the public enemy for the police, Luana’s existence challenges the cis-heteronormativity, further aggravating police brutality. After Luana’s experience with police brutality, she still managed to record a video in which she reported the assaults, in addition to the death threats made by police officers who also threatened her family [1].

In February 2020, Luana’s case was ordered by the courts so that the defendants would be tried by the popular jury. However, the defense appealed and the trial continues without a definite date. Although the trial was suspended, the case of Luana Barbosa was not labeled as a mere allegory of police violence in Brazil. Immediately after the incident, the UN Women and the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights of South America (OHCHR) appealed to the Brazilian State for an impartial and transparent investigation recognizing that the case of Luana is emblematic of racist violence, gender and lesbophobic in Brazil [2].

According to Roseli Barbosa, the sister of the victim, the fact that Luana associates with masculine lesbianism, which in Brazil is accompanied by the adjectives: ‘sapatão’ and ‘camioneira’ in a pejorative way (words that were re-signified by the lesbian movements with pride and belonging), constantly made Luana the target of insults and prejudice. Several times, Luana paid a high price for looking like a poor, black man [3]. In another police interrogation, Luana had to show her breasts to prove she was a woman. The presumption of innocence for black, poor and vulnerable people is practically non-existent. To exist as a black-lesbian, woman-mother-peripheral is a cry of resistance in Brazil.

What is the color of the Invisible?

Race and Equality continues to follow the case of Luana Barbosa with Brazilian LGBTI+ organizations and denounce it to international human rights mechanisms. In the dossier “What is the color of the Invisible? The human rights situation of the black LGBTI population in Brazil” [4], published by Race and Equality, there is a chapter dedicated to denouncing police violence against black LGBTI people in the country. In focus groups carried out by civil society organizations, it can be seen that the brutal death of a black woman did not mobilize society and that lesbian invisibility is a determining factor in the lack of public commotion regarding the deaths caused by the State.

As the dossier points out, socio-racial hierarchies in Brazil determine the conditions of life and death. There is a hierarchy between death that is visible and death that is not, and skin color is a factor that separates the two. Fátima Lima, a black lesbian woman and university professor, argues that the life and death of lesbian women are marked by erasure.

“The violence suffered by black and racialized women in the context of the South is still very little visible, discussed and faced. Marked by silence and pain, their stories are crossed by different forms of violence that range from injurious discursive practices to corrective rape, beatings and murders. In the Brazilian LGBTI+ movement, for example, lesbian women have always denounced their deletion,” expresses Fátima. [5]

 2021: Building new directions for the case of Luana Barbosa

In 2021, the case of Luana Barbosa continued to have international repercussions during the 47th Assembly of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), in which Michelle Bachelet, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, presented the report on systemic racism and the excessive use of public force [6]. The tragic story of Luana’s murder was recorded in the report as one of seven cases in the world where police violence was linked directly to racial discrimination and prejudice. According to Bachelet, “there is a widespread presumption of guilt over black people,” and adds that “the excessive vigilance imposed on black people makes them feel threatened rather than protected.”

During that same Assembly (UNHRC47), Race and Equality denounced police and political violence against LGBTI+ people in Brazil as a result of systemic racism. Together with the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association (ILGA Mundo), they joined the pronouncement of the Brazilian Association of Lesbians, Gays, Bisexuals, Transvestites, Transsexuals and Intersex (ABGLT). It should be noted that the case of Luana Barbosa was present in the joint statement, to further foster an international repercussion of justice for Luana Barbosa [7].

Nationally, there is a political movement to fight against lesbocide and for LGBTI+ agendas. During the last municipal election, in 2020, several black, lesbian and transgender parliamentarians were elected, however before and during the electoral process they faced numerous threats and hate speech for their expressions of gender and sexual orientation. During their terms of office, these parliamentarians strategically united to confront and denounce the ongoing political violence in Brazil.

Mônica Francisco, State Deputy of Rio de Janeiro (PSOL), is the author of the ‘Luana Barbosa Draft Law.’ The bill aims to establish April 13 (date of Luana’s murder) as the ‘State Day to Combat Lesbocide.’ In addition to making visible and promoting the rights of lesbian women, the date is intended to support public campaigns and activities aimed at raising public awareness of a culture of non-violence against lesbian women. The bill, which still needs to be voted on and approved by the Legislative Assembly of Rio de Janeiro, represents a major step towards the construction of a public agenda that supports and makes visible the protection and integral health of lesbian women.

Among the circumstances that made Luana Barbosa’s case a symbol of the struggle and resistance of lesbian women in Brazil, Race and Equality understands that the lack of public authority assistance for the specificities of lesbian women is one of the key factors for their agenda’s erasure. The absence of public data on lesbocide and on the current situation of living lesbians leaves civil society with the responsibility of research production which does not always have the necessary financial support to be carried out.

In Rio de Janeiro, in 2020, the Collective Resistance Lesbian da Maré launched a mapping of lesbian and bisexual women living in favelas [8]. The document aims to denounce the scarcity of answers about lesbian experiences in favelas, especially experiences of non-violence, since the hegemonic representations of favelas refer to violence and the abandonment of public power. Also, the Associação Lesbofeminista Coturno de Vênus, headquartered in Brasília, launched, in 2020, a mapping of lesbians in the Federal District. This year, Coturno de Vênus is promoting a nationwide mapping of lesbians, together with the Brazilian Lesbian League. It will be the first national socio-demographic mapping of lesbians.

Race and Equality recognizes that there is still a long way for lesbian women to reach the fullness of their rights. It is essential to create public policies that deconstruct a collective imaginary beyond violence, pain and hypersexualization of lesbian women. Violence in life, through corrective rapes, family abandonment, conversion therapies, loss of custody of their children, lead many lesbian women to suicide. Thus, Race and Equality recommends to the Brazilian State to:

1 – Create a Legal and Parliamentary Committee to produce data on violence against lesbian women – lesbocide (lesbocídio);

2 – Promote public policies that support and strengthen organizations that seek to make lesbian agendas visible;

3 – Implement a policy of comprehensive protection for lesbian women who are victims of violence, in light of the intersectional issues raised in Luana Barbosa’s case;

4- Promote actions and campaigns to combat lesbophobia to eradicate disinformation and prejudice that reproduce the marginalization of lesbian women;

5 – Implement a national health policy that meets the specificities of the LGBTI population, in this case, specifically meeting the demands of the lesbian population.

 

 

 

*Quote by Jész Ipólito in his article published in: https://www.geledes.org.br/do-luto-luta-nao-esqueceremos-luana-barbosa-dos-reis-morta-por-pms-em-ribeirao-preto/

[1] http://g1.globo.com/sp/ribeirao-preto-franca/noticia/2016/05/antes-de-morrer-mulher-espancada-disse-que-foi-ameacada-por-pms-veja.html

[2] http://www.onumulheres.org.br/noticias/nota-publica-do-alto-comissariado-de-direitos-humanos-das-nacoes-unidas-para-america-do-sul-e-da-onu-mulheres-brasil-sobre-o-assassinato-de-luana-reis/

[3] https://ponte.org/a-historia-de-luana-mae-negra-pobre-e-lesbica-ela-morreu-apos-ser-espancada-por-tres-pms/

[4] and [5] http://oldrace.wp/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/FINAL_dossie-lgbti-brasil-ebook.pdf

[6]https://www.ohchr.org/SP/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=27218&LangID=S

[7] http://oldrace.wp/es/onu/raca-e-igualdade-celebra-a-adocao-da-onu/

[8] https://bit.ly/2TDB5ES and http://oldrace.wp/es/brazil-es/coletiva-resistencia-lesbica-realiza-mapeamento/

[9] https://bit.ly/lesbocenso and  http://oldrace.wp/es/brazil-es/coturno-de-venus-realiza-lesbocenso/

 

Race and Equality launches a project to combat religious racism in Brazil

Brazil, August 18, 2021 – In order to promote religious tolerance and reduce violence and discrimination against practitioners of African-derived religions in Brazil, the International Institute on Race, Equality and Human Rights (Race and Equality) is set to launch a project to combat religious racism alongside Brazilian civil society organizations. This two-year project aims to empower and strengthen Afro-Brazilian organizations so they can document cases of violence based on religious beliefs. This documentation will be used for international strategic litigation that promotes a culture of respect for religious freedom, as well as to enable the legal support necessary for victims of religious racism.

The organizations that will coordinate the project with Race and Equality include: NGO Criola, RENAFRO (National Network of Afro-Brazilian Religions and Health) and FOPAFRO (Permanent Afro-Religious Forum of the State of Pará). These three entities will be responsible for training terreiros[1] in the states of Bahia, Mato Grosso, Pará, Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo. Among the organizations involved, Race and Equality understands that it is of paramount importance to train religious leaders on national laws that deal with racial discrimination and to document human rights violations. These entities will not only present their documentation to the local, state, and federal authorities, but also to the Inter-American System of Human Rights, the UN, and advocate for Brazil to be held internationally accountable.

Furthermore, the strengthening of community and religious leaders presents itself as a unique opportunity given that, in 2022, Brazil will be reviewed by the United Nations committee that oversees the International Convention for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD). Therefore, the documentation and visibility of cases of religious racism in the country is beneficial so that civil society can demand and hold the Brazilian government accountable, and pressure them to fulfill their internal obligations based on their international human rights commitments.

Another point to highlight in this project is the media and lawyers who are dedicated to the issue of religious racism in Brazil. Since the media, especially newspapers and TV news reports play a key role in perpetuating negative stereotypes against African-based religions, training journalists aims to break paradigms and demystify current narratives. These paradigms and narratives, in addition to silencing the practitioners of these religions, rely on dogmas of Judeo-Christian religions. In turn, it is urgent to prepare a legal body to respond to the growing denunciations of cases of religious racism and its victims. This project also seeks to expand and promote educational programs that qualify networks of lawyers in the country.

This project’s objective includes the promotion and respect for religious freedom, as well as creating activities that contribute to a paradigm shift at national and international level. For Carlos Quesada, Executive Director of Race and Equality, the legacy of this project is also in its multiplier effect, for the training activities aim to create an informal human rights network to defend religious freedom in Brazil and, thus, the organizations develop autonomy to document, denounce and address human rights violations. In addition, Quesada points out that in the international scene there is a lack of knowledge regarding religious racism in Brazil.

“There is a cultural fallacy that Brazil is a country in which everyone can exercise their religious beliefs freely. However, structural racism also manifests itself in religions from burning terreiros to parents who lose custody of their children by expressing their faith. Thus, the violence manifested by religious intolerance undermines the principles of human rights. We need to make these cases visible internationally and foster awareness at the national level,” contends Quesada.

Race and Equality recognizes that religious racism is a problem that needs to be combated in Brazil with the creation of public policies and implementation of laws that have already been approved. According to data from the Ministry of Women, Family and Human Rights, in 2019, there was an increase of 56% (356 in total) in complaints and assaults for religious intolerance, compared to 211 in 2018 [1]. Most of the victims were followers of the Candomblé and Umbanda religions [2]. In addition, Data Dial 100, a telephone line for reporting violence, shows that between 2015 and 2019, 2,712 complaints of religious violence were made in Brazil, among these communications 57.5% were of African-based religions [3].

Teaming up with Afro-Brazilian organizations, Race and Equality reaffirms its commitment to denounce and combat human rights violations. Religious intolerance violates the right to equality, freedom of belief and expression, as well as fostering actions of violence and a culture of hatred that laregely affects populations vulnerable to structural racism and LGBTIphobia. That being said, throughout this project Race and Equality will denounce cases of negligence, racism and discrimination affecting religious democracy in Brazil.

 

 

[1] Terreiro means African-inspired traditional house.

[2]https://www.brasildefato.com.br/2020/01/21/denuncias-de-intolerancia-religiosa-aumentaram-56-no-brasil-em-2019

[3] The two well-known Afro-Brazilian religious traditions are Candomblé and Umbanda. Candomblé was formed by enslaved Africans, while Umbanda was created in Brazil at the beginning of the last century. There are notable differences between the two traditions. Candomblé’s chants are performed in languages ​​of African origin, such as Yoruba or Kimbundu. While in Umbanda, they are sung mainly in Portuguese. Another difference is the practice of animal sacrifice. In Candomblé, the practice of animal sacrifice is carried out as a way of circulating the energy that animates everything in the world: axé. More than religions, these traditions reveal the social, cultural and spiritual practices on the African continent.

[4] https://www.gov.br/mdh/pt-br/acesso-a-informacao/ouvidoria/balanco-disque-100

July 25: Call on the States of the Americas to Guarantee and Protect the Rights of Afro-Latina, Afro-Caribbean and Diaspora Women

Washington, D.C., July 25, 2021. – Afro-Latina, Afro-Caribbean and diaspora women fight and resist everyday against systemic racism and gender-based violence in situations that in turn generate a series of human rights violations upon them and their communities. For this reason, on July 25, the region celebrates The International Day for Afro-Latina, Afro-Caribbean and Diaspora Women. The Institute on Race, Equality and Human Rights (Race and Equality) recognizes their struggles and resistance and calls upon States to adopt policies that contribute to improving the lives of these women.

The last year posed various challenges mainly due to the impact of COVID-19 in the Americas. This pandemic exposed the conditions of inequality faced by the Afro-descendant population, but mainly Afro-descendant women, including those who are heads of family households, who defend human rights, who lead social processes in their communities, who hold public office in the midst of machismo and discrimination, and those with diverse sexual orientation and gender identity.

Afro-Latina, Afro-Caribbean and Diaspora Women’s Day has been celebrated every July 25 since 1992, the First Meeting of Afro-Latina and Afro-Caribbean women took place in the Dominican Republic. It was the starting point for the struggle in demanding their visibility and all their cultural and social contributions to the formation of States. Over the years, this date has also served to raise demands on public policies to recognize, guarantee and protect the rights of this population.

This date acquires greater relevance as we are in the middle of the International Decade for People of African Descent 2015-2024, which was declared by the United Nations, and whose objective is to promote the eradication of all social injustices suffered by people of African descent, as well as to combat prejudice and racial discrimination, and to promote and protect the human rights of all.

Fighting and resisting using art.

The struggles and resistance of Afro-Latina, Afro-Caribbean and diaspora women are in every corner of the Americas and are manifested in various ways. One of them is art, so this year, Race and Equality set out to make visible and recognize women in the region who, through different artistic expressions, share their experiences, make their demands visible, demand justice and seek to contribute to improve the living conditions in their communities.

In Colombia, La Comadre is a process of Afro-Colombian women, victims of the armed conflict, which arose within the National Association of Displaced Afro-Colombians (AFRODES). Its objective is to make visible the disproportionate effects of the armed conflict from an intersectional approach, and thus demand from the State the design and implementation of public policies, with an approach that responds to the set of effects they have experienced— Afro-Colombian women in the context of the armed conflict.

Since La Comadre, its members have organized different strategies to make visible the struggles of black people, and especially the struggles of black women, as well as the contributions they have made to the construction and advancement of this country, says Luz Marina Becerra, President of this initiative. One of the strategies has been the creation of plays. “The purpose is to make visible all those issues that we have experienced as black women, especially sexual violence, and to that extent generate awareness, sensitize Colombian society to all these damages and the impacts that have caused war on our bodies, on our lives, on our culture, on our models of life,” she explained.

In Brazil, Virgínia Beatriz expresses her art through poetry, where she seeks answers about her descendance, she resists and denounces the collective reality of Afro-women living in the favelas. Beatriz is a historian and member of the Coletivo Resistência Lésbica da Maré, and as a black and pansexual woman, she reveals that her poems reflect her concern of the invisibility of Afro-Brazilians, but she also seeks collective victories in an attempt to reconstruct the narratives of those that were usurped by colonization.

“In this way, art has the power to give us prominence, to contribute with our voice and our body in the struggle for our rights, whether in a video on the internet where this narrative circulates to various places, or in a slam circle in the street, in some academic text or book of poetry, uniting our art in a manifestation, the protagonist is ours and this is our history,” declares the poetry slammer.

In Nicaragua, the Murals RACCS Foundation (Movimiento para la Unidad Regional del Arte Local y las Expresiones Socioculturales de la Región Autónoma del Costa Caribe Sur) works to strengthen artistic skills and creative capacities under a playful and educational method. Its Co-Director, Psychologist, Gay Sterling, considers that in an adverse context where racial discrimination prevails, “the art of muralism is an important tool to combat negative social phenomena,” to convey messages that illustrate the struggles and demands for a more equitable and just society for women of African descent.

Sterling reaffirms the cohesion and determination of people of African descent in the struggle to eradicate discrimination: “Whether we paint, dance, sculpt or make handicrafts, we shout that no matter which country or region we live in, or whether they call us Afro-Latina, Afro-Caribbean, African-American, we are a single-origin diaspora because genes don’t lie.”

As an organization that defends and protects the human rights of people of African descent in several countries of the Americas, Race and Equality has been observing and documenting the inequalities and human rights violations faced by Afro-Latina, Afro-Caribbean and Diaspora women. For this reason, we take advantage of the fact that, in the framework of the Afro-Latina, Afro-Caribbean and Diaspora Women’s Day, hundreds of activists, leaders, groups and organizations advocate for this population, to make the following recommendations to the States:

– Create and/or strengthen the projects, programs, and mechanisms needed to combat violence and discrimination affecting women of African descent in the Americas.

– Adopt, within the framework of the International Decade for People of African Descent 2015-2024, public policies that guarantee the rights of women of African descent in the region, with an intersectional approach that takes into account other determinants of their life experiences, such as sexual orientation and gender identity.

– Collect and disseminate statistics, also under an intersectional perspective, on the presence and situation of Afro-Latina, Afro-Caribbean and diaspora women in the Americas.

– Sign, ratify and implement the Inter-American Convention against Racism, Racial Discrimination and Related Forms of Intolerance.

 

 

Race and Equality celebrates the adoption of the UN resolution for the protection of african people and afro-descendants against police violence

Washington DC, July 15, 2021 – The Institute on Race, Equality and Human Rights (Race and Equality) celebrates the adoption, by consensus, of Resolution A/HRC/47/L.8 Rev.1, which aims to promote and protect African and Afro-descendants against excessive use of public force. This resolution was voted on at the 47th  General Assembly of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (HRC47), in which Michelle Bachelet, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, presented her report on the subject, calling on member states to dismantle systemic racism and end police violence. This ruling is a historic step towards reforming systemic police brutality against the black population.

The Resolution establishes an international mechanism of independent experts to promote transformative changes to justice and racial equality. This mechanism should be composed of three experts with experience in law enforcement and human rights, who will be appointed by the President of the Human Rights Council, under the guidance of the High Commissioner. To this end, the mechanism must work closely with experts from international bodies and treaties.

Additionally, this same mechanism will be responsible for investigating the responses of governments to peaceful protests against racism and all international human rights violations, as well as contribute to accountability and reparation of victims. The mechanism will be presented to the UN Council annually, together with the High Commissioner, who will also present an annual report, to be declared at its 51st session in June 2022.

Furthermore, it should be noted that the adopted Resolution recognizes the legacy of slavery, colonialism, and the transatlantic slave trade of African peoples. This recognition dialogues with the 21-year-old Durban Conference, whose Durban Declaration and program of action cite the link between the past, present and future, recognizing that Afro-descendants continue to be victims of the consequences of slavery, the slave trade and colonialism. Thus, both documents call for the former colonial powers to assume the consequences of colonization and its impacts on today’s black population around the world.

In presenting her report, Bachelet reiterated that, “no state has taken full responsibility for the past or the current impact of systemic racism,” thus confirming the urgent need for measures to ensure an end to impunity and discriminatory policies. Thus, the promotion of racial justice and equality pervades the adoption of reparatory policies against systemic racism in Western nations affected by colonialism

In view of this resolution, we also praise the importance of human rights organizations and defenders who are part of the anti-racist struggle. Through their advocacy work, the committee against racial discrimination, the rapporteur on racism and the working group on Afro-descendants have made numerous recommendations to the UN system for the protection of human rights.

Towards a Global Transformative Agenda

The implications of Resolution A/HRC/47/L.8/Rev.1 of the Human Rights Council adopted by the UN are the results of a historical demand of the black population around the world. Michelle Bachelet’s mandate research under Resolution 43/1, provides concrete recommendations on the measures needed to ensure access to justice, accountability, reparation for excessive use of force, and other human rights violations against the black population. The case of George Floyd in the US brought to light racial debate versus police violence on a global level. Therefore, investigating the violent responses of governments towards peaceful protests against racism and supporting the victims of human rights violations was made as an urgent response from international mechanisms.

That said, the attack on democracy by the States is carried out as an attempt to weaken both the anti-racist struggle and the guarantee to fundamental rights. Therefore, among the pillars of reparations to African and Afro-descendant peoples is the establishment of independent monitoring mechanisms and standardized methods to report and review the use of force. Furthermore, data should be published and broken-down by race or ethnic origin of the victims, highlighting the racial profile, the cause of deaths and serious injuries that are related to the maintenance of order, and subsequent prosecutions and convictions.

Statement on Police and Political Violence in Brazil

On the occasion of the UN’s HRC47, Race and Equality with Brazilian and international human rights organizations, denounced the ongoing police and political violence in Brazil as a result of systemic racism. The neglect of the Brazilian government in the face of constant allegations of human rights violations, both in the political sphere and in the public and private spheres, highlights how the structure that supports the maintenance of racist practices is ingrained in its institutions, especially in those in which the state seeks to impose order through violence—the police institution.

Thus, Race and Equality in partnership with the Marielle Franco Institute (IMF), IMADR and Minority Rights, [1] denounced police violence against the black population in Brazil. The statement, delivered by Anielle Franco, Executive Director of the IMF, urges the United Nations to establish an independent and impartial mechanism within the police forces that will help ensure accountability and respect for human rights standards and ensure that all cases of disproportionate use of force are investigated. In addition, the statement highlighted the recent cases of the Chacina do Jacarezinho, in which the excessive use of police force resulted in the brutal murder of 25 black youths in Jacarezinho, a favela in Rio de Janeiro; and the case of Kathleen Romeu, a 24-year-old pregnant black girl, shot dead during an illegal police operation in the Lins Vasconcelos Complex, also a favela in Rio de Janeiro.

In another complaint to the UN Council, Race and Equality and The International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association (ILGA Mundo), the Brazilian Association of Lesbians, Gays, Bisexuals, Transvestites, Transsexuals and Intersexes (ABGLT) [2] was to denounce not only police violence, but also political violence that has haunted, delegitimized and silenced the Brazilian LGBTI+ population. The statement highlighted the case of Luana Barbosa, a black woman, mother and lesbian, brutally murdered by police in 2016, whose case was mentioned in Bachelet’s report. In addition, the implications of systemic racism traversed by sexism, makes the LGBTI+ population hostage not only of police brutality, which disrespects its gender identities in a violent way, but also hostage to the anti-gender agenda promoted by the current government, already institutionalized in the promotion of hate speech and closure of specific public policies that serve the LGBTI+ population.

Thus, it is worth remembering that the brutality of police violence in Brazil disproportionately affects the racialized population and people who express different genders. With the promotion of a state security policy that aims to eliminate these bodies, the system relies on the racist and LGBTIphobic structures and commands an eye-catching necropolitical project aimed at an agenda of ethnic-racial cleansing, promoting the genocide of the black population. Presented as a fait accompli by the government to disregard the injunction of the Supreme Court (STF) that restricts police operations in the city’s favelas during the COVID-19 pandemic, has resulted in more than 800 people killed by police since June 2020.

Responses from the States in the Region

In response to the complaints, the Brazilian state lamented the deaths cited by the High Commissioner’s report, making itself available to continue cooperating with the UN. Furthermore, the state informed that the justice system is investigating cases and intends to work on systemic responses and proposes to work specifically on human rights education for public authorities.

The Colombian government on the other hand, questioned the data presented on the murders of Afro-Colombian leaders and people during the National Strike, thus demanding that they be verified. In this way, it sought to delegitimize the protests that took place, emphasizing that the State does not tolerate violence by public servants that violate human rights— facts that can be proven both by media footage and by the constant denunciations of aggressions and deaths.

Race and Equality urges the States in the region to fully cooperate with the UN mechanism created to end impunity for racialized state violence; ensure accountability and remedies; and confront the roots of racism. In the case of Colombia, we express concern about the government’s negative response and our hope that the Colombian authorities will investigate and publicize human rights violations and killings against Afro-descendant defenders amid the National Strike protests.

As for Brazil, we hope that the State will follow up on investigations and on a human rights cooperation policy aimed at ending police violence and impunity for those responsible. We emphasize that Brazil needs to effectively implement the Inter-American Convention against Racism. Thus, we reaffirm our commitment to monitoring human rights violations by States and ensuring the implementation of this Resolution by the UN mechanism, so that it can work together with special procedures to strengthen accountability in the administration of racial justice. Finally, we believe that it is essential that the UN can ensure the participation of Afro-descendant peoples and communities in the formulation and implementation of States’ responses to systemic racism.

 

[1] Access the pronouncement: https://bit.ly/3yXYcfO (available only in English)
[2] Access the pronouncement: https://bit.ly/3r9WhC4 (available only in English)

Transcinema: trans presence and representation in brazilian audiovisual media

Brazil, June 11, 2021 – “I never imagined living in a country that kills travestis [1] and transsexuals the most. I never imagined how powerful the reference of my population could be, on and off the screen. In theater, producing music on and off the radio, dancing and encouraging the presence of our trans bodies in Brazil.” With this reference, the power of trans bodies and the Brazilian reality, Wescla Vasconcelos- director, screenwriter and presenter– opens the program, “Transcinema: Presence and Representation in Brazilian Audiovisual Media” [2]. The program was supported by the Aldir Blanc Law, the Rio de Janeiro State Government, and the State Secretariat for Culture and Creative Economy, as well as the Kinoplex Cinema Network. Written in partnership with Biancka Fernandes, Transcinema was created in order to make visible and discuss the presence of trans bodies within audiovisual media.

With the participation of actresses such as Divina Aloma, Biancka Fernandes and Rebecca Gotto, who narrate their artistic trajectories of their disobedient bodies in contrast to the prevailing gender and media patterns, which all exalt the disruptive transgender power within Brazilian audiovisual media. Through the brief accounts of their stories, many come from a long haul in this industry. Actresses narrate the evolution of trans representation beyond stigma and prejudice to demonstrate that, yes, trans people can and should be protagonist of their stories. The conquest for space and representation in the cultural sector is an arduous struggle for the trans population, usually their performances are restricted to support roles, their stores are shelved, or they’re found behind the cameras and/ or in cultural projects. Moreover, because of transphobia, many cisgender men act in roles of trans people, further accentuating the erasure and marginalization of trans and transvestite women.

It is worth highlighting that the profusion of social media and the heightened accessibility of the internet is and was important for the visibility of the trans population. Also, themes of identity contributed to the creation of audiovisual content that discuss the importance of trans representation in decision making spaces. Becuase communication is power, the symbolism constructed around trans people, needs to be constantly questioned, since the media legitimizes and romanticizes cisheteronormative narratives, leaving the trans population in an eternal contest for representation beyond headlines of violence and death. Therefore, trans representation also needs to be included in the audiovisual industry and in job generation as a means of social insertion far beyond the screens.

To tell the story of the Transcinema project, Race and Equality invited Wescla Vasconcelos, who besides being the creator of the program, is also an actress, pedagogue, she completed her masters in Culture and Territorialities in Fluminense Federal University (UFF), a Parliamentary adviser in the office of Councilwoman Tainá de Paula in Rio de Janeiro, and also acts as an articulator of the TT-RJ Forum. Wescla also discussed about the importance of the actresses’ stories, and how these stories serve as a reference of themselves and how this evolution is important for the generations to come.

Race and Equality- How did the idea of the Transcinema Program come about? How many editions will there be?

Wescla Vasconcelos- Transcinema arose from a dream I always had as an artist, which is to try to produce content that reflects, in various ways, the power of the presence of trans and transvestite peoples in audiovisual media, but also through other artistic languages. In 2020, I collaborated in a program for the National Association of Travestis and Transsexuals (ANTRA), with the first festival “Travestilizando.” This festival aimed to bring together several trans artists in order to insert them in social networks and showcase their talents at the time of the pandemic. In fact, with the support of several trans artists, we created several virtual campaigns raising funds to help supply food and basic hygiene products. The emergency appeal of the Aldir Blac law arrived in the midst of the pandemic (this law includes emergency assistance to workers in culture and support for cultural spaces). As an artist, I realized the importance of producing content that reflected the power of trans representation in audiovisual media. Together with Biancka Fernandes, we are two trans artist from the Northeast region of Brazil, we started this movement of writing a project based on trans representation in Brazilian audiovisual media. It was the first script that we wrote together, and it was also the first production that I directed and produced at the same time, along with other folks involved. It emerged from the quarantine with the need to produce content that reflects the power of trans representation in audiovisual media. At the moment Transcinema has only one edition, but for the second half of 2021, I intend to develop other content that contemplates trans people’s existence in the Brazilian audiovisual media.

R&E- As a writer and director, what influenced you to explore this issue?

WV- The main influences when constructing the script and direction of the program were based on some interviews with trans artists, both from Brazil and from and other countries. The show was based primarily on the documentary called, ‘Disclosure’ which in Portuguese is called ‘Revelação,’ available on Netflix. In addition to this documentary, I was also inspired by Bruna Benevides’ article called “11 Movies about Trans Activist that you need know” [2]. The article was written on the website Medium and it’s accessible online. It’s wonderful, and it greatly inspired me to create the program’s script.

R&E- What was the experience like working with the trans actresses, what is the message in Transcinema that you’d like to transmit to the public?

WV- The show was an experience of bringing together several trans artists from different cities, with Divina Loma speaking about Madam Satã’s time, in Rio de Janeiro, and what she went through as a black transsexual artist. Then came Rebecca Gotto who is an actress from Baixada Fluminense, guiding the issue of access, opportunities, and the fight for respect of the social name, especially as an artist. It also included Biancka Fernandes referencing aspects of prostitution in Brazil, the marginalization of the streets, poetry, and the importance of poetry as a power of her art. It was a generational conversation humanizing cinema entertainment. This production of content guides our trans people and transvestite population as a reference for ourselves. I think this is the main message that the program Transcinema brings in the fight against prejudice and discrimination.

R&E- Because of your experience as a militant and as an articulator of the TT-RJ Forum, how can ‘Transcinema’ contribute to repair transphobia in a country that kills more LGBTI+ people in the world?

WV- I believe that the Transcinema show directly contributes to discussions that are urgent in our society. We see a lot on television and on other forms of mainstream media, a linkage between prejudice and discrimination to the deaths and murders, further marginalizing transexual and transvestite subjects. Thinking from this place of social movement, the experience in the construction of Transcinema speaks about life. We transsexuals cannot limit our speech and presence in society by just debating questions of transphobia, prejudice and discrimination. We must discuss all this and fight for the right to life within a country that both murders our trans and transvestite bodies.

Nevertheless, it is important to recognize what each of us does in life, because we have many powerful and inspiring things that serve as references not only for trans people, but for society as a whole and the LGBTI+ population. The content of Transcinema contributes to this dialogue by saying that we have always been in various places, occupying various spaces of society. But it’s society that does not admit our presence.

R&E- How do you envision the journey and presence of trans peoples in Brazil’s audiovisual media?

WV- At the end of Transcinema, I leave with a message that is: to let us act, let us sing, let us dance, let us play any and all sports. Society can no longer avoid the debate around trans bodies, travestis, and their role in the labor market, university studies, and other opportunities, because we are human beings and we are included in society anyway.  We need to encourage this inclusion to happen in a more practical and concrete way. I think that the Brazilian audiovisual media today has been going through changes, to the point where I myself am surprised. Brazilian audiovisual media has been going through moments of transformations that reflect a future dialogue of narratives, bodies, and representation. The Transcinema program encourages this evolution and challenges the Brazilian audiovisual media. It’s very much linked to ourselves, the transexual artists who have gone through the entertainment industry before, commenting on their own work as a strategy of reference and exalting our work, and at the same time leaving messages such as: when I was a child or teenager, I had never seen content like this. I think with transgender children and teenagers having access to content like Transcinema, it fosters the idea that they see themselves reflected on TV, in cinema, in art and in various other places in society.

R&E- Another unfortunate Brazilian statistic that brings the trans and transvestite presence within audiovisual media is that Brazil is the country that consumes the most trans and transvestite pornography in the world, but the taboo on trans bodies remains constant. How do you see this possible paradigm breaking within the audiovisual industry?

WV- The statistic is a sad fact, Brazil is the country that kills the most trans and transvestite people not by fatality, I like to emphasize this because they are brutality filled, hate crimes. At the same time that we think about this awful statistic, we see that the consumption of pornography is very high. And in addition to the digital platforms, online pornography, and consumption of the bodies of trans and travestis is also very high. The street corners of prostitution did not completely stop during the pandemic period, and now with this vaccination movement the market of prostitution returns with acceleration. These are issues within society that have never been as present as they are today. We need to strengthen this discussion using the fact that this country kills the most and consumes the most trans pornographic content, and hires prostitution services. These are taboos that need to be debated and, furthermore, alternatives need to be thought out so that this can be something that does not harm the rights and dignity, and life of the LGBTI+ community.

Audiovisual representation can demystify, in the sense that the search for pornography and prostitution on the streets moves certain people in search of specific issues, which in this case is sex. And on the other hand, producing content with a trans diverse population in the audiovisual media, helps to humanize these peoples and express how their bodies are not only for pornographic content and prostitution- trans bodies can also serve as a reference in various points of audiovisual content, and moreover by encouraging their presence in society, we demystifies this taboo. The participation of trans people in Brazilian audiovisual media can help reduce both discrimination and prejudice.

R&E- The popular Madame Satã served as a symbolic figure who always had to appear strong to be able to survive, moreover the cinema perpetuated this image. What image of trans people do we need to (re)build in order to decolonize symbolic ideas of trans bodies?

WV- Madame Satã is referenced in our program, Divina Aloma is one of the few trans artists who had contact with Madame Satã. Unfortunately, we recently experienced the death of Rogéria and Jane di Castro from the Divine Divas. Aloma’s participation in Transcinema is an enormous gift. She’s a legacy in life, in live production, commenting on Madame Satã is one of the defining moments of our documentary. With Madame Satã, we witness a figure confronting fascism and prejudice, vulnerable to the intersectional prejudices, and dealing with the political violence and abusive apparatus that the state ideologically imposes in our society.

Continuation WV- In order to imagine a reconstruction of symbols and struggles that can decolonize trans bodies, it is necessary not only to have trans people acting, but to think in what ways the LGBTI+ debates and trans debates are structured in society. In addition to acting through mediums of art and cinema, I think it is important that we are also aware of these processes. We need more and more writers, editors, content producers, trans creative directors to play a role in the structure and functioning of these large areas of society. Because from the moment we do that, we’re going to see not only trans people acting, but also directing, producing, scripting and creating a distinct presence for the trans and transvestite community using their professional talents. This will all contribute to embolden and decolonize the experience of trans bodies in society. From the moment we still see that there is a great absence in the presence of trans people in various sectors of our society, it is important to think that when this access is facilitated, these people will increase their presence in society, and in a way, weaken forms of prejudice and discrimination.

In order to contribute to promoting the cultural sector with recognition and appreciation of popular expression, Race and Equality recognizes that the right to culture is essential to the contribution of the history of a people and its traditions. Moreover, the appreciation of culture from a plural perspective is intersectionally connected to the struggle for basic rights of peoples. Thus, our engagement in the defense and promotion of racial and indigenous LGBTI+ agendas aim to restructure a world designed for unique bodies and peoples. Therefore, we recognize that diversity is a fundamental right and we congratulate the diverse cultural productions.

 

 

[1] Far from being a pejorative term, according to ANTRA (National Association of Travestis and Transsexuals of Brazil), “travesti” is an identity in the country, claimed by those who, despite having been identified as belonging to the male gender at birth, recognize themselves as belonging to the female gender and have a female gender expression, but do not claim themselves as women. Associação Nacional de Travestis e Transexuais (ANTRA); Instituto Brasileiro Trans de Educação (IBTE). Dossiê dos assassinatos e da violência contra travestis e transexuais brasileiras em 2019. São Paulo: Expressão Popular, ANTRA, IBTE, 2020, p. 11. Available in: https://antrabrasil.files.wordpress.com/2020/01/dossic3aa-dos-assassinatos-e-da-violc3aancia-contra-pessoas-trans-em-2019.pdf

[2] Watch the Transcinema program here: https://www.instagram.com/p/CPJZ6HfDEaR/

[3] https://brunabenevidex.medium.com/11-filmes-sobre-ativistas-trans-que-voc%C3%AA-precisa-conhecer-a2eb9654b4ee

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