Publications

Previous PageTable Of Contents

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This report was written by Michael Bochenek, counsel to the Children's Rights Division of Human Rights Watch, after a four-week field investigation in northern Brazil in April and May 2002. Reginaldo Álvarez, a legal intern with Cedeca-Emaús; Odilene Rita da Costa Andrade, social worker, Cedeca-Emaús; Márcio da Silva Cruz, staff attorney, Cedeca-Emaús; and Luiz Octavio Silva of Cedeca-Emaús accompanied the author on detention center visits and interviews in the state of Pará. Jon Balcom and Christopher Boyd provided additional research assistance.

Lois Whitman, executive director of the Children's Rights Division; Zama Coursen-Neff, counsel to the Children's Rights Division; and Wilder Tayler, legal and policy director of Human Rights Watch, edited the report. Joanne Csete, director of the HIV/AIDS and Human Rights Program; LaShawn R. Jefferson, executive director of the Women's Rights Division; and Joanne Mariner, deputy director of the Americas Division, also reviewed and commented on the manuscript. John Emerson designed the map. Fitzroy Hepkins, Veronica Matushaj, Patrick Minges, and Dana Sommers provided production assistance. Reginaldo Alcantara translated the report from English into Portuguese.

Human Rights Watch is indebted to the many nongovernmental organizations and individuals who generously assisted us in the course of our field research. In addition to the Cedeca-Emaús staff who conducted interviews with our researcher, we would especially like to thank Carlos Benati, public defender, Rio de Janeiro; Edjales Benício de Brito, Conselho Estadual de Direitos Humanos, Porto Velho, Rondônia; Denise Campos, Centro de Defesa da Criança e do Adolescente, Porto Velho, Rondônia; Tim Cahill, Amnesty International; James Cavallaro, executive director, Justiça Global, Rio de Janeiro; Joisiane Gamba, staff attorney, Sociedade Maranhense de Direitos Humanos, São Luís, Maranhão; Loide Gomes da Silva Ferreira, social worker, Centro de Defesa dos Direitos da Criança e do Adolescente Padre Marcos Passerini, São Luís, Maranhão; Ana Celina Bentes Hamoy, Cedeca-Emaús, Belém, Pará; Cláudio Hortêncio Costa, São Paulo; Miriam Lyons, a children's rights consultant and member of the Children's Rights Division's advisory committee; Francisco Antônio Monteiro Lemos, staff attorney, Centro de Defesa dos Direitos da Criança e do Adolescente Padre Marcos Passerini, São Luís, Maranhão; and Benedito Rodrigues dos Santos, Ph.D. candidate, anthropology of childhood, University of California-Los Angeles. In addition, we appreciate the assistance of Mário Volpi, of the Brasília office of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF).

We would also like to thank the federal and state officials who agreed to be interviewed for this report and who facilitated access to juvenile detention facilities, including Márcio Araújo, Comissão de Direitos Humanos da Câmara Federal, Brasília; Celso França, Department of Human Rights, Ministry of Justice, Brasília; Soleny Álvarez Hamu, Departamento da Criança e do Adolescente, Ministry of Justice, Brasília; Maria de Socorro Gatinho Ribeiro, director, General Program Department, Fundação da Criança e do Adolescente, Government of the State of Amapá; Dione Maria Pereira Baquil, coordinator, Socio-Educative Area, Fundação da Criança e do Adolescente, Government of the State of Maranhão; Graça Prola, Prefecture of Manaus, Amazônas; Claudett de Jesús Ribeiro, president, Fundação da Criança e do Adolescente, Government of the State of Maranhão; and Paulo Alfonso Sampaio, director, Departamento da Criança e do Adolescente, Secretaria de Estado da Assistência Social e do Trabalho, Government of the State of Amazônas.

Finally, we would like to thank the many children we interviewed, whose names have been changed in this report to protect their privacy.

Human Rights Watch
Children's Rights Division

Human Rights Watch is dedicated to protecting the human rights of people around the world.

We stand with victims and activists to bring offenders to justice, to prevent discrimination, to uphold
political freedom and to protect people from inhumane conduct in wartime.

We investigate and expose human rights violations and hold abusers accountable.

We challenge governments and those holding power to end abusive practices and respect international
human rights law.

We enlist the public and the international community to support the cause of human rights for all.

The staff includes Kenneth Roth, executive director; Michele Alexander, development director; Carroll Bogert, communications director; A. Widney Brown, deputy program director; John T. Green, operations director, Barbara Guglielmo, finance director; Lotte Leicht, Brussels office director; Iain Levine, program director; Patrick Minges, publications director; Rory Mungoven, advocacy director; Maria Pignataro Nielsen, human resources director; Dinah PoKempner, general counsel; Joseph Saunders, deputy program director; Wilder Tayler, legal and policy director; and Joanna Weschler, United Nations representative. Jonathan Fanton is the chair of the board. Robert L. Bernstein is the founding chair.

Its Children's Rights Division was established in 1994 to monitor and promote the human rights of children around the world. Lois Whitman is the executive director; Jo Becker is advocacy director; Michael Bochenek and Zama Coursen-Neff are counsel; Clarisa Bencomo and C. Anthony Tate are researchers; and Dana Sommers and Colin Relihan are associates. Jane Green Schaller is chair and Roland Algrant is the vice-chair of the advisory committee.

Web Site Address: http://www.hrw.org
Listserv address: To receive Human Rights Watch news releases by email, subscribe to the HRW news listserv by sending a blank e-mail message to hrw-news-subscribe@topica.email-publisher.com

Previous Human Rights Watch reports on Brazil
Behind Bars in Brazil, 1998
Urban Police Brutality in Brazil, 1997
Fighting Violence with Violence: Human Rights Abuse and Criminality in Rio de Janeiro, 1996
Final Justice: Police and Death Squad Homicides of Adolescents in Brazil, 1994
Violence Against the Macuxi and Wapixana Indians in Raposa Serra do Sol and Northern Roraima from 1988 to 1994, 1994
Forced Labor in Brazil Re-Visited: On-Site Investigations Document That Practice Continues, 1993
The Killings in Candelária and Vigário Geral: The Urgent Need to Police the Brazilian Police, 1993
Urban Police Violence in Brazil: Torture and Police Killings in São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro After Five Years, 1993
The Struggle for Land in Brazil: Rural Violence Continues, 1992
Criminal Injustice: Violence Against Women in Brazil, 1991
Rural Violence in Brazil, 1991
"Forced Labor in Brazil," News from Americas Watch, 1990
Police Abuse in Brazil: Summary Executions and Torture in São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, 1987

Previous Human Rights Watch reports on juvenile justice and conditions of confinement for children
Charged with Being Children: Egyptian Police Abuse of Children in Need of Protection, 2003
No Minor Matter: Children in Maryland's Jails, 1999
"Nobody's Children": Jamaican Children in Police Detention and Government Institutions, 1999
Prison Bound: The Denial of Juvenile Justice in Pakistan, 1999
Juvenile Injustice: Police Abuse and Detention of Street Children in Kenya, 1997
Guatemala's Forgotten Children: Police Violence and Arbitrary Detention, 1997
High Country Lockup: Children in Confinement in Colorado, 1997
Children of Bulgaria: Police Violence and Arbitrary Confinement, 1996
Modern Capital of Human Rights? Abuses in the State of Georgia, 1996
Police Abuse and Killings of Street Children in India, 1996
Children in Confinement in Louisiana, 1995
Final Justice: Police and Death Squad Homicides of Adolescents in Brazil, 1994
Jamaica: Children Improperly Detained in Police Lockups, 1994
Children in Northern Ireland: Abused by Security Forces and Paramilitaries, 1992
Nothing Unusual: The Torture of Children in Turkey, 1992

Previous PageTable Of Contents