AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL

Media Advisory

AI Index: AMR 19/011/2007 (Public)

News Service No: 088

2 May 2007

Brazil: Long term state neglect fuels public security crisis

Amnesty International has published today a new report looking at the public security crisis in Brazil.

The report, being published on the eve of the first anniversary of the May killings in São Paulo, looks at the new developments in Brazil's public security crisis: the spread of organised crime in Sao Paulo, the growth of the militias in Rio de Janeiro and the web of vested interests which perpetuate human rights abuses.

As the authorities resort to ever more desperate measures such as deploying the army on the streets of Rio de Janeiro, Amnesty International revisits the issues raised throughout its long-term campaign on public security, offering recommendations to the incoming administrations.

The study particularly focuses on the critical situation in the cities of Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo and includes a series of recommendations to Brazil's state and federal authorities.

For a copy of the report “Brazil, ‘From burning buses to caveirões’: searching for human security”,please see: http://web.amnesty.org/library/Index/ENGAMR190102007

Public Document

****************************************

For more information please call Amnesty International's press office in London, UK, on +44 20 7413 5566

Amnesty International, 1 Easton St., London WC1X 0DW. web: http://www.amnesty.org

For latest human rights news view http://news.amnesty.org

Amnesty International, International Secretariat, 1 Easton Street, WC1X 0DW, London, United Kingdom