Brazil

Chronic human rights problems plague Brazil. Some police officers kill unlawfully, torture detainees, and mistreat children in conflict with the law. Many Brazilian prisons are severely overcrowded, and the lack of adequate state control leaves inmates vulnerable to violence, extortion, and recruitment by gangs. Other human rights problems include violence against women, killings of journalists and bloggers because of their work, and violence against rural activists and indigenous people involved in conflicts over land. Perpetrators of abuses during the military rule of 1964 to 1985 continue to be shielded from justice by an amnesty law passed by the military regime.

Business

Human Rights Watch welcomes the initiative of the UK government to launch a public consultation on due diligence on forest and ecosystem-risk commodities, as well as the announcement by minister of state Zac Goldsmith that the UK intends to spearhead a major global crackdown on illegal timber and deforestation in the run-up to COP 26.

October 22, 2020
Letter
Human Rights Watch submission to the UK Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs public consultation on due diligence on forest risk commodities
Children's Rights

Human Rights Watch writes in advance of the 79th pre-session of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women relating to Brazil’s compliance with the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (“the Convention”). This submission addresses issues related to articles 1, 2, 3, 5, 10, 12, 14, and 16 of the Convention.

October 21, 2020
Statement
Submission to the Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) on Brazil
Environment

October 16, 2020
Statement
Brazil: Stop Harassing Environmental Defenders

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August 26, 2020 Report

“The Air is Unbearable”

Health Impacts of Deforestation-Related Fires in the Brazilian Amazon
February 3, 2020 Report

Brazil: Possible Evidence Tampering in Police Killings

Experts Find Autopsies Woefully Inadequate in ‘False Rescues’ Case
January 14, 2020 Report

Brazil: Address Lawlessness in the Amazon

Encouraging Killings by Police Harms Public Safety
September 17, 2019 Report

Rainforest Mafias

How Violence and Impunity Fuel Deforestation in Brazil’s Amazon