Arrest of firefighters condemned at meeting of Mercosur

In a joint statement, organizations condemn the lack of transparency of the investigations and request support from international actors

On Friday, November 29, more than 40 organizations expressed their condemnation
over the criminalization of the NGO Projeto Saúde e Alegria (Health and Happiness
Project) and the arrest of four firefighters in Alter do Chão. The joint statement was
made during the 34th edition of the Mercosur Meeting of High Authorities on Human
Rights and Foreign Ministries, held from November 27-29 in Brasília. The meeting takes
place twice a year and is responsible for reflecting on and setting the bloc’s human
rights agenda.

In the document, the institutions denounced the lack of transparency of the
investigations and they requested the support of international actors to spotlight the
recent attacks on the work of civil society and the ongoing attempts to criminalize
human rights defenders by Brazil’s current government.

The organizations also emphasized that, despite the release of the firefighters on the
28th, the continuation of the investigation violates “the guarantees and the right to
defense of those under investigation”.

Daniel Gutierrez Govino, João Victor Pereira Romano, Gustavo de Almeida Fernandes
and Marcelo Aron Cwerner, four firefighters from Alter do Chão, were arrested on the
26th after being charged with starting fires in the forest. At the same time, documents
and equipment were seized from the offices of the NGO Projeto Saúde e Alegria. The
action was part of the police operation “Fire of Sairé” launched to investigate the fires
in Alter do Chão.

The Federal Police has also opened an investigation to discover who was responsible
for the “Day of Fire” in the Amazon. For this crime, however, no non-governmental
organizations are under suspicion.

• Read the document in full here