Brazil Praised for Human Rights Progress

A high-ranking United Nations official has praised the South American nation of Brazil for its progress in improving the country's human rights conditions. However, she mentioned that there are still many additional improvements which can be made.

According to a press release issued by the United Nations on Thursday, the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights expressed the belief that Brazil had made substantial progress in reducing HIV/AIDS and eliminating poverty, but also stated that additional improvements are possible in the fields of law enforcement, protecting the rights of indigenous people, and overcrowding of prisons. She referred to the common use of detention before trials, saying there could be improvements in this area as well.

She spoke about poverty as well, saying that it can result from and cause violations of human rights, and met with various government officials including the President of Brazil. She visited a university in Rio De Janeiro, as well as the cities of Sao Paulo and Brasilia.

According to the CIA World Factbook entry on Brazil, it is a nation of just over 190 million people, has four time zones, and is almost as large as the United States. It gained independence (from Portugal) earlier than many nations, in September 1822. Brazil borders almost every other country in South America. A military government held power until 1985. The current President was re-elected with almost sixty-one percent of the vote. The official language is Portuguese, but a few other languages are also spoken there.

The Wikipedia entry on United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour indicates she is from Canada and has been the commissioner since mid-2004. She was formerly a Chief Prosecutor for international criminal tribunals involving Rwanda and countries which make up former Yugoslavia.