Brazil: Lula Urged to Play Global Rights Role

(Washington, D.C., February 10, 2004) -- Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva should use his international standing to become a global champion of human rights, Human Rights Watch said today.

Lula has the credibility necessary to make Brazil a leader in the struggle for the rights of people everywhere. José Miguel Vivanco, Executive Director of the Americas Division of Human Rights Watch

Contribute to Human Rights Watch Also Available in   Related Material More Information on Human Rights in Brazil Country Page Letter to President Lula da Silva Letter, February 2, 2004 Free Email Newsletter

In a letter to President Lula, Human Rights Watch noted that in his first year in office, Brazil had already become a leader in the fight to protect the rights of sexual minorities, and that President Lula had personally elevated the issues of poverty and hunger on the global agenda. The group also praised Brazil’s stance on the International Criminal Court and access to affordable antiretroviral medicines for persons living with HIV/AIDS.  
 
At the same time, Human Rights Watch said that it was disappointed by Brazil’s failure at last year’s U.N. Commission on Human Rights to condemn abuses in Chechnya, Cuba and Turkmenistan, and by President Lula’s unwillingness to speak about abuses in countries that he visited, such as Egypt, Libya, Syria and Cuba.  
 
“Lula has the credibility necessary to make Brazil a leader in the struggle for the rights of people everywhere,” said José Miguel Vivanco, Executive Director of the Americas Division of Human Rights Watch. “But he needs to speak out more consistently, and without regard to political alliances. Brazil has rightly criticized the selectivity of the Bush administration; it should not itself yield to the same considerations.”  
 
Human Rights Watch called on Lula to use Brazil’s new seat on the Security Council as well as his own voice to champion rights issues wherever and whenever they arise, “be they arbitrary detention in Guantanamo, war crimes in Chechnya, or racism in Europe.”  
 
Last year Brazil presented a groundbreaking resolution at the U.N. Commission on Human Rights calling on states to protect the rights of all persons regardless of their sexual orientation. With the Commission divided, the resolution was shelved at the last moment. This year Brazil is making a worldwide push to gain passage for the resolution at the Commission’s meeting in Geneva in March and April.  

 

 

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