This regional giant is increasingly influential on the global scene, but continues to struggle with its own human-rights situation. Torture and forced labor are among the serious allegations leveled against authorities in the rising South American power with a long history of abuses. Also worrying: the killing of justice officials, like Judge Patrícia Acioli, who was gunned down on her doorstep last year in apparent retaliation for ordering the detention of police officers suspected of murder. All this as Brazil prepares to host an expected 600,000 foreign tourists for the 2014 World Cup and a further 2 million for the Olympics in 2016.
Human Rights Under Threat: Five Not-So-Usual Suspects
Human Rights Watch this week released its 2012 World Report. The 676-page write-up covers some of the biggest stories of the year, including China’s crackdown on dissent, ongoing attacks on civilians in the Democratic Republic of Congo and the international community's ambivalent response to the Arab Spring. But it also spotlights some lesser-known stories from places that profess to protect human rights. Here are five important examples