In Manaus, Guardian Council says ‘walk on eggshells’ about exposed children to vulnerability in anti-democratic acts

Ívina Garcia – Cenarium Magazine

MANAUS – Supporters of antidemocratic acts that call for federal intervention are camped for six days in front of the Military Command of the Amazon (CMA), in the West of Manaus, exposing, still, children to heat, hunger and vulnerability in the protest, as found by CENARIUM MAGAZINE. The Guardianship Council informed the report that they have no information about the conditions and are “walking on eggshells”.

The protesters settled in front of the CMA after the election of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) as President of the Republic, on October 30. Law No. 14,197 of the Constitution says that inciting animosity between the Armed Forces and the Powers, such as the Legislative, Executive and the Judiciary, is a crime, because it is an apology for military intervention. The practice is punishable by imprisonment for four to eight years, in addition to the penalty corresponding to the violence.

To the report, the coordinator of the West Zone Guardianship Council, Nilson Matos claimed not to have been informed about the conditions of the place where children are being held in the demonstration and that it is necessary to hold a meeting with all coordinators, from all areas, since, according to him, although the protests are in the West Zone, “it is something that is mobilizing the whole of Manaus”.

“I need to get in touch with the coordinators of each zone, with the Secretariat’s [Secretariat of Women, Social Assistance and Citizenship] approach staff, to see how we are going to make a coordinated action in this sense, because it is something that we are walking on eggshells in relation to this”, stated the counselor.

The report asked Semasc about what interventions will be made to ensure the safety and protection of children at the demonstration, but did not receive a reply as of the publication of this report.

Caught in the act.

The CENARIUM MAGAZINE has been following, throughout the week, the camp set up in front of the military institution and caught sight of children left alone in tents, lying on cardboard and sleeping under the bright sun.

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The act of taking children to protests is not prohibited, but the permanence of these school-age children for several days away from the learning environment can, in addition to harming child development, lead to the arrest of those responsible, as explained by the lawyer Flávio Espírito Santo.

“There is no specific impediment in the legislation about taking a child to participate in a peaceful demonstration. But in these protests the child cannot be missing school or be put at risk”, says the specialist, who also warns about the conditions of children exposed to excessive heat and vulnerability. “It is a crime to violate basic rights, and parents can even lose custody”.

Children’s compulsory schooling is guaranteed by three federal laws that regulate access to education. These are: the Statute of the Child and Adolescent (Ecriad), the Law of Directives and Bases of Education (LDB), and the Penal Code itself.

Art. 246 of the Penal Code defines the practice of intellectual abandonment of a minor as failing to provide education, without justifying the cause, to a child of school age, carrying a penalty of detention from 15 days to one month, or a fine.