Arrests made against activists of social movements in Minas Gerais are reported to the United Nations and the Inter-American Committee on Human Rights. The initiative was led by representatives of the Homeless Workers Movement (MTST) and PSOL, who claimed that the arrests were arbitrary and that the movement’s militants were taken to a barracks. The detainees were taken to the police station only after 6 hours.
In a document obtained by the UN, the group submits the complaint and asks international organizations to condemn the Brazilian state and make recommendations to ensure that communities threatened by eviction have access to justice and due process. They also demand that steps be taken to secure the right of families to adequate housing.
The document, signed by councilor Bella Gonçalves (PSOL/MG) and federal lawmaker Áurea Carolina of the same party, reports that on May 15, nearly 100 people were victims of “forced evictions” in Montes Claros, MG. out by landowners and jagunços without a court order”.
They also condemn the fact that no action has been taken by the Minas Gerais Military Police (PMMG) and its local command to contain the violence.
The day before the Homeless Workers Movement (MTST) occupied a district in Montes Claros. According to him, the land was idle and the property owed more than R$7 million in Urban Territorial Property Tax (IPTU).
“The occupation was carried out taking into account the impossibility of poor families to fully enjoy their right to adequate housing. In the city of Montes Claros alone there is a housing shortage of ten thousand houses and this deficit, the absence of public housing policies” justifies the document.
On May 15, the group notes that the Military Police allowed 50 landowners and jagunchos, some of them armed, to enter the grounds, inciting violence against pregnant women and women with children, death threats, destruction of tents. with people inside, verbal assault, shutting water, aggression towards the disabled, destroying the community kitchen and burning personal belongings.
“It is particularly serious that the terror experienced by the families occurred on Sunday, profoundly limiting the possibilities for families to defend and articulate,” they say.
The document, which was submitted to the UN, also states that the landowners have deployed private security guards to surround the area and prevent people from a support network from entering the area.
“They closed the occupation entrances with the land masses they brought with dump trucks, they even blocked a side road in the municipality to traffic,” they emphasize.
According to the complaint, the Prime Minister of Minas was called several times, but it was confirmed that there was a delay of more than an hour and a half until his actual arrival in the occupation was confirmed.
“The security forces who arrived at the scene were in close contact with the private security at the scene and watched all the violence described, including the aggression against Montes Claros councilor Iara Pimentel, without intervening,” he said.
“It is remarkable that police negligence can be placed as physical assault, coercion by private security guards with firearms, moral intimidation, violence that justifies the illegal and illegitimate use of special forces, as well as threats of physical violence or death,” he claimed.
As a result of the evacuation, the families wanted to relocate in the Marielle Franco occupation, again in the city of Montes Claros.
However, on May 18, the Prime Minister of Minas, the municipal servers, the municipal prosecutor and the municipal guards took a stand against the occupation. The action resulted in the arrest of three MTST coordinators: Jairo dos Santos Pereira, Ihago Oliveira Bispo and Pablo Henrique Oliveira.
Handcuffed, the MTST coordinators “were not taken to the Police Station but to the Prime Minister’s barracks, as they were expected to be, out of touch with family and lawyers for nearly two hours, creating deep fear for family members and friends who were unable to provide the necessary information and assistance”.
source: Noticias
