More deaths in Brazil due to violence than in the Middle East

(BRASILIA, 30 Nov, ANSA) - Murders of teenagers in Rio de Janeiro were 8 times higher than those of Palestinians in the Middle East between 1987 and 2001, according to a Social Watch report released in Brazil today, in which the unfair distribution of wealth in the country was also criticized.

Social Watch Report 2004, which is carried out in 60 countries since 1996, points out that the main obstacles to Brazilians’ security are the bad distribution of wealth and the increasing violence.

According to the chapter on crime and the answers to violence, the rate of violent deaths in Rio de Janeiro surpasses those of countries that went through war crises, like Sierra Leone, Afghanistan or Yugoslavia.