Human rights in Brazil

Human rights in Brazil are legally protected by the Brazilian Constitution, but there remain numerous concerns with regard to human rights in that country. These include the use of police brutality, torture and summary executions by civil and military police and prison authorities. Slavery persists against the excluded persons.

The records of several state governments are poor. The following human rights problems have been reported: unlawful killings, excessive force, beatings, abuse, and torture of detainees and inmates by police and prison security forces; inability to protect witnesses involved in criminal cases; harsh prison conditions; prolonged pretrial detention and inordinate delays of trials; reluctance to prosecute as well as inefficiency in prosecuting government officials for corruption; violence and discrimination against women; violence against children, including sexual abuse; trafficking in persons; discrimination against black and indigenous persons; failure to enforce labour laws; widespread forced labour; and child labour in the informal sector. Human rights violators often enjoy impunity.

Slavery and labor situations like depression era company towns still exist in remote areas in Brazil like the Amazon (A fictional portrayal of such a town occurs in The Rundown). "Debt slavery" (where workers are forced to work to pay an ever-increasing debt) still exists in some rural areas, though it is illegal and the government actively fights against it. The "debt slavery" is particularly worrying in large sugar cane farms, since sugar cane is a raw material for Ethanol, a product that the Brazilian government is currently actively encouraging the production and research of.

Up to 40,000 Brazilians find themselves toiling for no real wages and can't leave the distant work camps where they live. Brazilian government officials and human rights activists call it slave labor, a condition they are aggressively trying to eradicate.

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