Rio reports some 1,000 religious intolerance cases in two years
Kátia Marinho, grandmother of the 11-year-old girl who was attacked with a rock while leaving a candomblé ceremony in Rio de Janeiro. The case became notorious throughout Brazil.
In two years, close to a thousand cases of religious intolerance were registered in the state of Rio de Janeiro by the Center for Religious Freedom and Human Rights. From July 2012 to December 2014, 948 reports were filed, in 71 percent of which African-Brazilian religions are targeted.
The figures can be found in a preliminary document released Tuesday (Aug. 18) by the NGO Commission for the Fight Against Religious Intolerance, during a public hearing at the Rio de Janeiro State Legislative Assembly.
The document further reports that, from January 2011 to June 2015, the Disque 100 hotline linked with the Human Rights Secretariat of the Presidency fielded 462 calls on religious discrimination.
The data also reveal that religious intolerance on the web has drawn increasing attention from law enforcement authorities.
In the view of the chairman of the Human Rights Commission at the Legislative Assembly, Marcelo Freixo, from the Socialism and Freedom Party (PSOL), hate crimes must not be tolerated, and preventive strategies should be devised. Freixo believes politicians have failed to show enough interest to fight these crimes. “It's important to dedicate a place on the police report for declaring religious intolerance as motivation for the crime,” he added.
In an effort to promote peace and respect and to encourage the fight against religious intolerance, the commission has scheduled for September 20, on Copacabana beach, the 8th March for Religious Freedom.
Translated by Fabrício Ferreira
Fonte: Rio reports some 1,000 religious intolerance cases in two years
