UNITED NATIONS E Economic and Social Distr. GENERAL Council E/1990/5/Add.53 20 November 2001 Original: ENGLISH Substantive session of 2002 IMPLEMENTATION OF THE INTERNATIONAL COVENANT ON ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND CULTURAL RIGHTS Initial reports submitted by States parties under articles 16 and 17 of the Covenant Addendum BRAZIL* [21 August 2001] * The information submitted by Brazil in accordance with the guidelines concerning the initial part of reports of States parties is contained in the core document (HRI/CORE/1/Add.53). GE.01-46156 (E) 130302 E/1990/5/Add.53 page 2 CONTENTS Paragraphs Page Introduction to the report by the Minister of State for External Relations ................................................................................................................ 3 I. INTRODUCTION ........................................................................ 1 - 22 4 II. GENERAL INFORMATION ON BRAZIL ................................ 23 - 27 8 III. BRAZIL’S REPORT ON SPECIFIC ARTICLES OF THE INTERNATIONAL COVENANT ON ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND CULTURAL RIGHTS AND ON THE HUMAN RIGHTS COVERED THEREIN .................................................. 28 - 877 16 Articles 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 ................................................................. 29 - 33 16 Article 6 ........................................................................................ 34 - 123 17 Article 7 ........................................................................................ 124 - 180 43 Article 8 ........................................................................................ 181 - 195 72 Article 9 ........................................................................................ 196 - 295 75 Article 10 ...................................................................................... 296 - 370 94 Article 11 ...................................................................................... 371 - 557 108 Article 12 ...................................................................................... 558 - 744 159 Articles 13 and 14 ......................................................................... 745 - 805 205 Article 15 ...................................................................................... 806 - 877 220 E/1990/5/Add.53 page 3 Introduction to the report by the Minister of State for External Relations The Brazilian Government is very pleased to present its initial and periodic reports to the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, as set forth in the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. The broad intersectoral consultation process that preceded these reports and the positive and the spontaneous contributions made by civil society are worth highlighting. These efforts were coordinated by the Human Rights Committee in Brazil’s lower house in Congress, the Chamber of Deputies, in a document called “The Civil Society Report on Brazil’s Observance of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.” The reports we are now submitting reflect the Government’s efforts to meet the commitments made to the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. The first draft was prepared during the administration of Minister Luiz Felipe Lampreia, on the basis of work prepared by the Instituto de Pesquisa Economica Aplicada (IPEA).1 The Brazilian Government therefore trusts that it has addressed the rights that are promoted and protected by the Covenant, whose importance Brazil recognizes and values, and that it has done so in the proper depth and detail. The Government also trusts that the report will provide the Committee with a clear overview of Brazil’s achievements in the field of human rights as well as an understanding of the nation’s complexities and continuing deficiencies. This overview also describes the commitment and efforts made by the Government to promote and protect economic, social and cultural rights within a framework of full democratic freedom and economic stability, while increasingly encouraging civil society to participate in efforts to assess strategies and design public policies. Celso LAFER Minister of State for External Relations E/1990/5/Add.53 page 4 I. INTRODUCTION 1. The Brazilian Government hereby presents its initial report to the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, pursuant to article 16 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. 2. Before beginning, however, the Brazilian Government would like to express its regrets for the delay in submitting the report. The importance of the rights covered by the Covenant; the fact that the broad nature of such rights permeates all the State’s activities; and Brazil’s own geographic, administrative and political complexity are just some of the factors underlying the delay in presenting this document. Nevertheless, an effort has been made to prepare a detailed report that expresses the clear progress made in promoting and protecting the human rights covered by the International Covenant without ignoring Brazil’s continuing inadequacies. The report also reiterates Brazil’s firm commitment to the full realization of the human rights in question. 3. Every effort was made to provide a broad range of data and to focus on periods encompassing several decades. For this reason the Brazilian Government would very much appreciate the Committee’s approval of its request that this report satisfy not only the requirement in the International Covenant regarding an initial report but also the obligation to provide periodic updates to extend until the present year. Brazil and human rights 4. Efforts to rebuild democracy and strengthen citizenship in Brazil have been accompanied by an effort to attach greater importance to human rights in general and to economic, social and cultural rights in particular. 5. Brazil is a party to all the key international and regional instruments designed to promote and protect human rights. Whether at home or abroad, the Government has always recognized the legitimacy of international concerns regarding the status of human rights anywhere in the world. Brazil feels that nations must cooperate among themselves and with the United Nations in order to effectively protect and promote such rights. We also view human rights as universal. For this reason such rights cannot be subjected to invalidation, relativism or limitations tied to peculiarities of any sort. Finally, Brazil defends a third thrust: the indivisible and interdependent nature of all human rights. No set of rights may be ranked to the detriment of any other set of rights. 6. Brazil is an active participant in forums to promote and protect human rights; it engages in a forthright, constructive and transparent dialogue with international treaty bodies and the countless mechanisms of the Commission on Human Rights of which we are members. 7. On the domestic front significant progress has been made in promoting and protecting human rights. In this regard the Federal Constitution adopted in 1988 deserves to be highlighted. The text of the Constitution has a number of clauses that buttress the promotion and protection of human rights and that have served as a source of inspiration or as a framework for subsequent legislation.2 E/1990/5/Add.53 page 5 8. Brazil was an active participant in the World Conference on Human Rights held in Vienna in 1993. In compliance with the Vienna recommendations Brazil created a Secretariat of State for Human Rights at a level of seniority similar to that of a ministry. Within the Ministry of External Relations a Special Department on Human Rights was also created. As part of its follow-up to Vienna, the Government also set in motion an intense programme of consultations that included civil society and that resulted in the National Human Rights Programme adopted in May 1996. 9. Among other initiatives, the National Human Rights Programme has attached priority to the following measures: (a) approving a Bill to amend the Constitution, presented by the Administration in 1996 - under this Bill, crimes against human rights would be judged by the Federal Justice System; (b) approving a Bill of Law that would transfer crimes committed by military police officers to the ordinary justice system for trial; (c) approving legislation to broaden the possibility of alternative sentencing; (d) creating and subsequently approving efforts to reform the Council for the Defence of the Rights of Human Beings in such a way as to broaden civil society participation while perfecting efforts to work together with the State; (e) expanding the Witness Protection Programme and the Programme to Provide Protection to the Victims of Crime and their Families, as part of a joint effort involving state governments and social organizations in order to combat impunity; (f) fostering innovative programmes to rehabilitate young offenders by providing community activities, professional and educational programmes and support for families and victims. The National Human Rights Programme has produced extremely positive results; it has generated a number of measures to promote and protect human rights, and has also increased awareness as to the importance of including a human rights perspective in all governmental activities. 10. The State must be decentralized, non-governmental arenas and forums for public activities must multiply and become more diverse, and civil society organizations and networks must make their voices heard. Of course, such efforts will only be feasible