Struggling for land is an exercise in citizenship
On the afternoon of May 31, one of the national
leaders of the Landless Workers Movement (MST), operating in Goias, Jose Valdir
Misnerovicz, was arrested in Rio Grande do Sul, in a joint operation of the
Civil Police of the states of Goiás and Rio Grande do Sul. Two vehicles of
Goiás Civil Police were in Rio Grande do Sul and were transferring Valdir to
Goiás.
That same day MST activist Luiz Batista Borges
had already been in jail for 47 days. He is from the Padre Josimo encampment in
Santa Helena Goiás. He is imprisoned in Rio Verde. In view of this,
organizations signing this statement are outraged at the court's partiality and
want to explain to national public opinion the context and motivations for
these jailings.
The arrest warrant
On April 14, 2016, a board of three judges,
presided over by head judge of the District of Santa Helena de Goiás (GO)
issued an arrest warrant against three small farmers: Luiz Batista Borges,
Diessyka Santana, and Natalino Jesus, members of the Padre Josimo encampment,
and against Jose Valdir Misnerovicz known nationally and internationally as an
activist and advocate for agrarian reform.
Luiz was arrested while responding to a request
to provide information at the local police station. The striking absurdity in
this process is that the MST for the first time was categorized in Law No.
12,850 / 2013, which defines criminal organizations.
It seems that the court decision was worked out
with the state government. Two days earlier, on April 12, the Public Safety
Secretariat of the State of Goiás had downloaded the ordinance n. 446, which
imposed the civil police and military state of "readiness" for two
months, for supposed "protection of public order and social peace,"
to accompany "possible crimes in urban and rural conflicts." The
Security Bureau foresaw violent demonstrations in the case of imprisonment of
the leaders of the movement.
What is behid this decision?
The ruling relates to the occupation by more
than 1,500 families linked to the MST of a small part of the Santa Helena Sugar
Mill which is in bankruptcy. The mill is part of the NAOUM economic group,
which is being accused in court of various crimes, including the concealment of
documents and computer equipment in order to erase the evidence of fraud and
non-compliance of labor obligations. There are more than two thousand labor
claims pending against the group, which put its former employees in absolute
poverty, deprived of basic survival needs. Unemployed workers have carried out
constant demonstrations against the mill.
Not only that, the former directors, Messrs.
Monir Naoum, William Naoum and Georges Naoum, were convicted of the crime of
misappropriation of social security contributions, since they reduced the
contributions due the workers and did not pass them on to the public coffers.
In addition, the Group has consistently reneged on their tax obligations. After
the declaration of bankruptcy, it was estimated that the group's debt to the
public purse amounted to R$ 1,257,829,201.07.
Therefore, the State filed a lawsuit of tax
enforcement against the Mill in the Federal Court of Anápolis. It ruled that
the properties of the Santa Helena Mill should be transferred to the State to
settle a small part of the debt to the Federal Treasury. And that showed that
the state intended the property for INCRA for the purpose of agrarian reform.
It was then that the landless workers occupied
part of the property in order to put pressure on public officials to speed up
the process of transferring the property to INCRA. Once the occupation had been
carried out, two court orders of reintegration of possession were filed against
the occupiers in separate processes. The two court orders resulted in the
forced eviction of more than 1,500 families in the encampments, who were all
already producing food in the area.
However, the Superior Court of Justice (STJ)
ruled that the decision of the Federal Court of Anápolis was the responsibility
of the court of the District of Santa Helena de Goiás. This concluded the
nullity action judged in Anápolis and decided that "the property must be
intended for agroindustrial activity of sugar cane and that the landless would
have difficulty carrying out such activity, causing immeasurable damage to the
city of St. Helena. " It should be noted that no cane is planted in the
occupied area, only soy.
Who is the criminal?
Given the above, one must ask which is the
criminal organization? Who is more harmful to society? Landless workers
struggling for agrarian reform, a principle enshrined in the Constitution, or
the Santa Helena Mill that leaves thousands of workers on the brink of misery
by not fulfilling their labor obligations, and does not honor its debts with
its suppliers and the Union ?
Framing the MST as a criminal organization is
the most inconsequential way to combat social movements. There is already
extensive jurisprudence of the Supreme Court of Justice, the Federal Supreme
Court and Courts of Justice stating that the struggle of the landless is an
exercise of citizenship and therefore is not to be confused with crime.
Throughout the state of Goiás there has never been any judicial condemnation of
any land occupation carried out by the MST.
In the context of the political crisis that
Brazil is now going through, the ordinance of the Goiás Security Bureau,
putting their police in a state of readiness, is nothing more than the attempt
to turn the state into a laboratory for repression of social movements. It's in
the context of this crisis that the reactionary forces of the latifundios and
agribusiness find support for their violent actions. In 2015, according to the
CPT's report Conflicts in the Brazilian Countryside, 50 workers were killed in
conflicts in the countryside, the highest number since 2004. And in these first
five months of 2016, 23 workers have already been murdered. Among them the
execution of two militants of the MST in Paraná stands out.
The courts almost routinely put the defense of
the right to property, even when it is not fulfilling its social function,
above the defense of the basic rights of citizens. It is common knowledge that
agrarian reform generate more direct jobs and the circulation of wealth within
the city itself, unlike the large agricultural enterprises. An example of this
is the very municipality of Santa Helena de Goiás, which uses pesticides
lavishly but is completely unable to produce its own food.
The arrests of Mr. Luiz Batista Borges and
Valdir Misnerovicz is a clear demonstration of which side Brazilian Justice is
on. When ordinary people rise up in the pursuit and defense of their rights,
they are seen as criminals and a danger to society. But the dispossession of
the rights of ordinary people is seen as a normal process and is the price to
be paid for the development of the country. And the powers that be agree with
this view.
When will we see justice emerge in our nation?
Goiânia, June 1, 2016
Cajueiro – Centro de Formação, Assessoria e
Pesquisa em Juventude (Center for Youth Training, Assistance and Research)
Centro de Desenvolvimento Agroecológico do
Cerrado Dom Tomás Balduino – CEDAC (Dom Tomás Balduino Center for Agroecology
of the Cerrado)
Central de Movimentos Populares – CMP-GO (Center
for Popular Movements of Goiás)
Comissão Dominicana de Justiça e Paz do Brasil
(Dominican Commission for Justice and Peace of Brazil)
Comissão Pastoral da Terra – CPT Goiás (Pastoral
Commission on Land of Goiás)
Comissão Pastoral da Terra – CPT Nacional
(National Pastoral Commission on Land)
Comissão Brasileira de Justiça e Paz da CNBB
(Brazilian Commission on Justice and Peace of the Brazilian Bishops Conference)
Conferência dos Religiosos do Brasil – CRB
Regional Goiás (Conference of Religious of Brazil)
Federação dos Trabalhadores e Trabalhadoras
Rurais na Agricultura Familiar no Estado de Goiás – Fetaeg (Federation of Rural
Workers in Family Farming in the State of Goiás)
Grupo de Pesquisas sobre Trabalho, Território e
Políticas Públicas – TRAPPU / UFG (Research Group on Work, Land, and Public
Policies)
GWATÁ Núcleo de Agroecologia e Educação do Campo
– UEG (Nucleus of Agroecology and Education in the Countryside)
Movimento Terra Trabalho e Liberdade –
Democrático e Indpendente (MTL-DI) (Land, Work, and Liberty Movement –
Democratic and Independent)
Movimento Camponês Popular – MCP (Popular
Peasant Movement)
Movimento dos Trabalhadores Rurais Sem Terra –
MST Goiás (Landless Workers Movement, Goiás)
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Cassia Bechara
Coletivo de Relacoes Internacionais
Secretaria Nacional - MST
Tel: (11) 2131 0850
Skype: cassia.bechara
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