Case History: Maicon Alexandre Rodrigues de Carvalho

On 11 April 2013, human rights defender and director of AHOMAR Mr Maicon Alexandre Rodrigues de Carvalho was subjected to new death threats as he attended a funeral.

Maicon Alexandre Rodrigues de Carvalho, also known as Pelé, is one of the founders and director of the Associação Homens e Mulheres do Mar da Baía de Guanabara – AHOMAR (Association of Seamen and Sea-women of Guanabara Bay), an organisation set up to work for the rights of the fisherfolk working in Guanabara Bay in Rio de Janeiro, and particularly those affected by the construction of a gas pipeline by Petrobras.

Pelé has been the acting director since Mr Alexandre Anderson de Souza had to go into hiding with his wife and children after several death threats and attacks against him and after the killing of other AHOMAR leaders.

On 11 April 2013, at approximately 10am, Pelé was attending a funeral in Magé, when he was approached by an individual known to members of AHOMAR, who was accompanied by four  unidentified men. The man threatened Pelé, stating that while Alexandre Anderson de Souza was away from AHOMAR he was the person responsible for the organisation and therefore he was “next”.

According to sources, this individual is an infamous gunman in the region and is allegedly involved in the killings of two other AHOMAR members, Mr Almir Nogueira de Amorim and Mr João Luiz Telles Penetra, in June 2012. The death threat was made in the presence of several individuals who were also attending the funeral, including other members of AHOMAR. Following the incident, Pelé remained in the funeral for about 30 minutes before he went to the closest police station and filed a complaint.

Maicon Alexandre Rodrigues de Carvalho filed a complaint at the 66th Police Department in the city of Magé, Rio de Janeiro State. At the police station, Pelé was subjected to further harassment and intimidation by police officers. He was forced to stay alone in a dark, empty room furnished only with a chair, for a few hours. Furthermore, the human rights defender reported that many of his concerns were not registered by the police during the process of filing the complaint and when he raised this issue with them, he was told to stay calm and be content with what they were doing and “try to recover lost ground”. Police officers of this particular station have an alleged history of violence, omission and collusion with crimes committed in the area.

Pelé has been subjected to threats previously and his inclusion in the State Protection  Programme was requested to authorities in the state of Rio de Janeiro in January 2013. To date he has received no response to this request.