RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (Reuters) -- A Brazilian boy was castrated and killed this week, victim of what may be a black magic cult that has claimed 20 lives and spurred human rights groups to seek intervention from the Organization of American States.
Like the 19 other boys who were mysteriously killed over the last decade, Welson Frazao Serra, 13, was emasculated and his body was abandoned in the vegetation around the northeastern city of Sao Luiz, Joisiane Gamba, a lawyer for a local children's defense group, said Wednesday.
All the victims were boys between the ages of 9 and 14 from poor slums. Many of them were sexually assaulted, black ribbons and candle wax were found near some of the bodies and most were killed between the months of September and December when black magic rituals are said to be more common.
"The signs are that this is not the work of a single criminal but of a group, and, at least in most of the cases, it could be a black magic cult," Gamba said.
State police have failed to properly investigate the crimes, human rights groups say, prompting them to request the intervention of the OAS Inter-American Human Rights Commission.
"Probably because they are poor, these families have not had access to justice," Gamba said, adding that no one has been convicted of the crimes that started in 1991 and many of the cases have been closed.
"The absolute impunity here is worrisome for the entire community and now we have another victim," she said.
Gamba and the human rights group Global Justice sent a petition to the OAS commission in July requesting they open a case against the Brazilian government that would force the cases to be reopened, provide compensation for the families and heighten security for the community.
Last month, the commission accepted the petition and gave the Brazilian government two months to defend itself.
With the latest death, the groups also sent a letter this week to the Justice Ministry asking federal officials to intervene in the state police investigations or lend technical assistance.
"The investigation has been abysmal despite the gravity of the cases and the proof is we have 20 corpses and no convictions," said James Cavallaro, director of the Global Justice human rights group and co-petitioner on the OAS complaint.
Copyright 2001 Reuters. All rights reserved.