Dom Oscar Romero Human Rights Defense Center – Cedhor (Paraíba)
Public Security: Human right of yours, mine, and ours
Paraíba
Objectives and target population:
The focus of the project is taking on the problem of police violence and death squad activity in the in the metropolitan region of João Pessoa, capital of Parnaíba, and in the sertão (arid back-lands) of the state; disrupting the lack of awareness of social control mechanisms for curtailing police abuse.
Cedhor will try to extend, together with vulnerable groups and police personnel, the right to public security as a human right, from the perspective of the indivisibility and universality of rights, based on the Third National Human Rights Plan (PNDH-3 in Portuguese).
Main activities:
– A campaign with workshops, seminars and festivities, disseminating knowledge and debating the issue, in order to confront these problems.
Context:
For many years, militants and politicians connected to human rights have been denouncing police violence, the existence of death squads and the disappearance of people in Paraíba. The Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry (CPI) investigations established by the Brazilian Legislature in 2003 isolated these as among the most serious problems in the state.
For the first time ever, in 2010 the Secretary of Public Security recognized the existence of death squads. Reports from the State Police Ombudsman’s Office, besides confirming the aforementioned CPI investigations, pointed out violent practices on the part of public security agents motivated by differences of race, social class and sexual orientation. Together with media exploitation, these practices are an everyday part of police’s approach and the treatment received at police stations.
The state of Paraíba is fourth on the list of states with the worst human development indicators and currently among the top in rates of violence.
About the organization:
Cedhor – Dom Oscar Romero Human Rights Defense Center offers legal and social assistance to the most economically and socially vulnerable population in the city of Santa Rita and to defenders of human rights, aside from accompanying and assisting with legal cases of individual and collective human rights violations. The training activities held by the group are aimed at youth, women and inhabitants of the city outskirts and quilombo communities.
Partnerships:
Cedhor is also active in putting together a social network to strengthen popular organization and participation in rights councils, with a focus on the enactment of rights; and performs social control of the budget and public policies in the municipality of Santa Rita and in the state of Paraíba, through the State Human Rights Council, to which it also belongs.
It is also a part of the National Human Rights Movement; the Children and Adolescent Protection Network of Santa Rita; the Margaridas Network (Remar); the Paraíba State Coordination of Quilombo Communities; the Public Policy and Budget Observatory of Santa Rita (OOPPS); the State Committee Against Torture; and the Municipal Council of Children’s and Adolescents’ Rights.
Funding Line
Annual Call for Proposals
Year
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Total Granted
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Duration
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Main Themes
Guaranteeing the rule of law and criminal justice