2016-11-01
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Representatives of the EU Delegation in Brazil (DELBRA) and embassies of 10 EU members States conducted an official mission to the state of Maranhão in September to examine protection actions for Human Rights defenders in the region. The mission was part of the 8th Call of the EU-Brazil Sector Dialogues Support Facility, an initiative headed by DELBAR and the Ministry of Planning, Development and Management (Ministerial de Planejamento, Desenvolvimento e Gestão – MP).
“The objective of the action was to learn more about the Brazilian context through visits to Human Rights defenders in their home localities. Ultimately, the visits serve to give defenders greater visibility, helping to strengthen their capacity to act and vesting them with greater influence in their efforts to resolve conflicts and claims that generate threats and other Human Rights violations, through coordination and reach-out meetings”, explains Raiana Falcão, Interim General Coordinator for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders (Coordenadora Geral Interina de Proteção aos Defensores dos Direitos Humanos – CGPPDDH) of the Special Secretariat for Human Rights (Secretaria Especial de Direitos Humanos), a component body of the Ministry of Justice and Citizenship (Ministério da Justiça e Cidadania).
Mission participants included Claudia Gintersdorfer, Minister Counsellor of the EU Delegation, Ambassador Hans Peters (Netherlands), Ambassador Mart Tarmak (Estonia), Wasim Mir, Minister Counsellor of the UK Delegation, Marja Suhonen, Deputy Chief of Mission of Finland, Anna Sundström, Counsellor of the Swedish Delegation, Hendrik Roggen, Political Affairs Counsellor at the Belgian Embassy, Igor ef, First Counsellor of the Slovenian Delegation, Tomas Napolitano Martinez, Representative of the French Delegation, Ciara Gilvarry, Representative of the Irish Delegation, Isabela Tomas, Representative of the Austrian Delegation, and Asier Santillan, Cooperation Attaché for the EU Delegation.
Also participating in the mission, in addition to the Interim General Coordinator of PPDDH, were Silvio José Albuquerque, Special Deputy Secretary for Human Rights, and specialists Camila Dias and Luziene Ribeiro.
As part of the mission, meetings were held with representatives of institutions dedicated to the issue within the State Secretariat of the Executive Office of Maranhão (Secretaria de Estado da Casa Civil do Maranhão). A visit was also conducted to the Ilha Camaputiua Rural Quilombo Community (Comunidade Quilombola Rural Ilha de Camaputiua), where three Human Rights defenders included under the protection plan currently reside.
In Raiana Falcão’s view, the mission provided an opportunity to exchange experiences and, by extension, strengthen the actions of Human Rights Defenders, while providing opportunities for additional joint efforts. “The event is important, among other reasons, because of the visibility it affords Human Rights defenders. In this light, the protection program sees the visibility extended to Human Rights defenders and their struggle as an essential protection measure in and of itself”, concludes Ms Falcão.
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