Alex Pamplona
Alex Pamplona is a journalist and youth worker. He represents the National Network for Teenagers and Young Communicators (Rede Nacional de Adolescentes e Jovens Comunicadores – RENAJOC) in the northern region of Brazil, which brings together youth to promote the right of expression in Brazil. Since February 2015, Pamplona has also been active in a Parliamentary Group on Youth, facilitating discussions on the massacres of young black men by the police and on secondary education reform in Brazil. Pamplona is also involved in monitoring the recommendations made by the Commissão Parlementar de Inquérito – CPI (Parliamentary Committee of Inquiry) regarding the actions of militias in the state of Pará and the need for an investigation into alleged human rights abuses. The CPI recently identified a complex network of militias (involving police officers and former police officers) who were responsible for the massacre of 10 persons in the outskirts of Belém in November 2014. The investigations into the massacre are currently being finalised, and a number of military policemen have been placed in preventive detention.
The challenges and threats faced by human rights defenders in Brazil remain very high, particularly for those working on issues of land, environment, indigenous peoples, LGBTi rights, corruption and impunity. Many HRDs have experienced death threats, physical attacks, arbitrary arrests and lawsuits. The high number of killings is of particular concern and takes place against a background of widespread impunity.
