Riot police invades camp and fires against Landless

[impossibleartist]

MST  <http://www.mst.org.br/mst/home.php>  - Brazil

29/11/2007


Yesterday        morning, riot police invaded the camp Elizabeth
Teixeira, in Park Tatu,        Limeira (close to Campinas), São
Paulo, to evict 250 families camping in        the area. The violent
action of the police left three people wounded,        among them was
the member of the national directorship of the MST, Gilmar        Mauro,
who was shot by a rubber bullet.


The        eviction started in the morning of the 29th. A large police
contingent        arrived at the camp destroying the huts. The policeman
violently refused        to negotiate with the Landless. During the
chock the police fired against        the families, including a disabled
man on a wheel chair, who had to be        carried.


Gilmar        Mauro, who is recovering, lost a piece of his ear, which
has already being        surgically stitched back. "The violence
used had no precedent; they came        after us like mad. After the
first tear gas, we retreated but we had no        idea that they would
attack us. First, First they fired a rubber bullet        and it reached
my stomach, but did not enter, then I was running and I        felt my
ear was hot, when I touched  it, I noticed that        it was
bleeding", he says.


Gilmar        reports that, even though he was wounded, he was arrested
in the camp and        taken to the police car under insults and mocking
by the police. "They        made me run to the police car and after
a phone call, they gave up taking        me to the police station."

According to Cláudia Praxedes, state        member of the
directorship for the Movement who was also present, besides        the
fact that the policemen did not dialogue with the landless, they also
ignored, priests, representatives of local councils and        the Child
pastoral. "After the violence, they denied medical assistance to
the people who were wounded by their bullets", reports Claudia.
Gilmar        reports that the policeman did not stop shooting even when
there were        numerous children crying.


The        City of Limeira received a court order for recovering the
area, even        though the city has not claim on the area – the
land belongs to the Union.        The National Institute for
Colonization and Agrarian Reform (INCRA)        promised to the families
that it would negotiate to avoid the eviction.        The landless hold
INCRA, the City of Limeira and the governor José Serra        (PSDB)
accountable for the situation.

The        Secretariat for Public Security from São Paulo state
informed that the        action was coordinated by the military in the
region of Limeira, and not        the riot police. According to the MST
though, the riot police was in        charge of the eviction.

History

The camp Elizabeth        Teixeira was established on April 21st this
year. The Park Tatu, which        formerly belonged to the Federal
Railway System, has been incorporated        into the Union. The court
order for the reintegration of the site, given        to the city of
Limeira by the judge Flávio Dassi Viana is illegal, since        the
park belongs to the Union.


The        city of Limeira, never had the title of the area, and uses
some of the        spaces of the Park to perform activities that degrade
the environment.        Inside of the park there is a "rubbish
dump", that is operating in        inadequate conditions and further
damaging the already polluted river        Tatu, which runs through the
city of Limeira and meets Piracicaba        River.

Due        to the situation, the families organized yesterday afternoon,
November        28th, a rally in the camp to state their determination
to        resist and remain in the area. The rally also demanded for the
area to be        immediately used for the Agrarian Reform. The families
there are in the        camp were already farming vegetables and greens
in the  area.

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <https://mailman.gn.apc.org/mailman/private/diggers350/attachments/20071201/20d6bf10/attachment.html>