Vol. 432 No. 3
52 Mr. Gilmore asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs if his attention has been drawn to the murder of two Brazilian environmental activists, Paulo Vinha and Arnaldo Ferreira; if he has made any protest to the Brazilian authorities about these murders; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
53 Mr. Sargent asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs if, in view of the fact that in the past 20 years over 1,700 movement leaders and rural workers have been murdered in Brazil, he will give his views, if any, on the failure of the Brazilian Government to cope with and deter this violence; and the action, if any, he intends to take to raise the issue.
58 Mr. Sargent asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs if he has written to the State Governor of Rio de Janeiro, urging a thorough and impartial inquiry into the murder of Edmeia de Silvan Euzebio, who was one of a group of mothers who campaigned for investigations into the disappearance of their children, on 15 January 1993.
59 Mr. Sargent asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs Finance if he has written to the Brazilian Government to protest at the murder of two environmental activists, namely Paulo Vinha and Arnaldo Ferreira, who had been involved in the campaign to save the Amazonian rain forests; and if he has called for a thorough and impartial inquiry into their murder and for the perpetrators of the murders to be brought to justice.
I propose to take Questions Nos. 52, 53, 58 and 59 together.
The issues which the Deputies have raised i.e. the observance of human rights, the right to freedom of speech, the protection of the environment and the treatment of street children in Brazil are matters of grave concern to the international community and the Twelve. The murder of individuals who have committed themselves to working for progress on these vital issues is particularly disturbing. I understand that the Government of Brazil under its new President Itamar Franco is investigating the recent murders which the Deputy has referred to as well as those of movement leaders and rural workers. I will continue to monitor this situation closely and keep it under review in the context of the ongoing dialogue between the European Community and the countries of Latin America in the Rio Group.
With regard to the murder of Edmeia de Silvan Euzebio who campaigned for investigation into the disappearance of children the Deputy will be aware that the last meeting of the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution which Ireland co-sponsored on the plight of street children in Brazil and elsewhere. A similar resolution was adopted by the UN Commission on Human Rights. I will raise the case referred to by the Deputy with the appropriate UN bodies.
