Killing of Youths in Brazil Streets

* As acting consul general, I am writing to you on behalf of the Brazilian government about the recent murder of seven street children in Rio de Janeiro that has been covered by The Times and was the object your editorial “Rio, the World Is Watching” (July 28). In this regard, I wish to express the abhorrence that such a crime has aroused in the Brazilian government and the Brazilian society as a whole.

Immediately upon learning the tragic incident, President Itamar Franco expressed his repudiation of the crime in the following terms: “As a father, as a citizen and a President of Brazil, I am horrified by what happened in Rio. I have instructed the minister of justice to closely follow the investigations of the police of Rio de Janeiro, in order to identify and bring to justice the sordid murderers of children.”

Justice Minister Mauricio Correa, Gov. Leonel Brizola of Rio de Janeiro and the local authorities are considering structural measures to address the problem of street children in Rio.

On July 26, Judge Mario Ernesto Ferreira determined the arrest of three policemen who had been recognized as the presumed murderers by the children that managed to escape. The three policemen have been charged with first degree murder. For each of the assassinations, each may be sentenced from 12 to 30 years of imprisonment.

On July 27, the government of the state of Rio de Janeiro dismissed Col. Manoel Henrique de Amorim from his duties as commanding officer of the unit in charge of patrolling downtown Rio. Moreover, the minister of justice has convened an extraordinary meeting of the National Council for Children and Adolescents to deal with the issue of street children at the national level.

MICHAEL FRANCIS GEPP

Acting Consul General of Brazil

Beverly Hills

* Your editorial rightly condemns the wanton killing of homeless children on the streets of Rio, and asserts that the city’s “business people ought to spend their money . . . on helping these poor kids escape the streets.”

Wouldn’t it make more sense to address the source of the problem? Why are all of these children abandoned to their own limited resources (they “survive through begging or petty theft”)? Were their parents guilty of bringing children into the world that they could not possibly care for; and should the state, instead, have to assume parental obligations?

Perhaps these business people would serve their community better by providing family planning clinics, thereby at least limiting the number of unwanted and abandoned children.

LOUISE HAUTER

La Canada