Date: 12 Oct 94 19:24 PDT From: International Gay Lesbian Human Rights Commission Subject: BRAZIL: Activist Beaten by Police International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission Emergency Response Network NEW Brazilian Gay Activist Severely Beaten by Military Police A well known Brazilian gay Activist, Cl'audio Orlando dos Santos, was severely beaten on 24 May 1994 by Military Police. Because of the severity of his beating and his resulting hospitalization, dos Santos was forced to cancel his planned participation in the last World Conference of the International Lesbian and Gay Association. Cl'audio dos Santos is president of the Florian'opolis based Associacao en Defensa dos Dereitos Homosexuais (ADDEH). According to a compliant filed by dos Santos, he was distributing condoms donated by the Santa Catarina Health Secretariat on the evening of 24 May. At approximately 21:00 hours a military police vehicle pulled up which caused the transvestites he was working with to run away. Dos Santos remained and as a consequence was verbally harassed and threatened with imprisonment. Dos Santos promptly phoned the headquarters of the military police and reported the harassment. Upon learning that he had done so, the military police kicked and beat dos Santos with their truncheons. He was handcuffed and taken to a police station where he was again beaten and had many of his personal belongings destroyed. Dos Santos has filed official complaints with the civilian police as well as the Santa Catarina Lawyers Association. To date, there has been no disciplinary measures doled out to the military police officers responsible for his condition. Letters need to be sent to both the governor and the Secretary of Public Safety demanding the following: 1. The government of the State of Santa Catarina must make every effort to find and punish those officers responsible for harassing, unlawfully arresting, and beating Cl'audio dos Santos. Police officers are charged with upholding the law and protecting the citizenry, not interfering with crucial disease prevention efforts and persecuting gay activists. 2. Anything short of an exhaustive and public accounting for what happened on the evening of 24 May 1994 will only foster an atmosphere of impunity in Santa Catarina that threatens sexual minorities and AIDS activists. 3. People with AIDS, their advocates, and at risk populations around the globe often suffer from neglect, discrimination and general societal hostility. They should not also have to contend with violence or its threat at the hands of the police. Numerous pronouncements by bodies such as the World Health Organization (i.e., its 1988 anti discrimination resolution) have deplored precisely this sort of violent harassment as a barrier to effective control of the AIDS pandemic. Write to: Ilmo. Governador do Estado de Santa Catarina Sr. Antonio Carlos Kondor Reis Pal'acio do Governo Pra a Tancredo Neves, s/n 88020-170 Florian'opolis - SC BRAZIL fax: +55-0-482-232-861 Ilmo. Secrt'ario de Seguran a P'ublica do Estado de Santa Catarina Sr. Vilmar Jos'e Loef Rua Esteves J'unior, 80 88015-170 Florian'opolis - SC BRAZIL fax: +55-0-482-223-462 IGLHRC For more information contact us at tel. (415) 255-8660 fax (415) 255-8662 e-mail: iglhrc@igc.apc.org