EXECUTIONS

102rightthe right to life. This motivation alone provides sufficient cause for theMNDH, an organization for the defense and promotion of human rights,to promote the implementation of this database. A second motivation isthe proportionate importance of the issue for Brazilian society in terms ofthe extensive coverage newspapers provide. Generally speaking,homicides are the crimes with the greatest visibility in Brazil. Newspapersthat specialize in the coverage of violence/homicides exist throughoutBrazil. Examples include the Folha de Pernambuco in Pernambuco; theJornal O Pequeno in Maranhão; Agora" in Piauí; Extra in Rio de Janeiro,and most pointedly, Povo do Rio, also in Rio de Janeiro.The database divides its content into five sections. The first dealswith the incidents on a general level and includes the following variables:attribution of the homicide to a group or individual; day and hour in whichthe death occurred; motives and circumstances; weapon(s) utilized;location, according to the most specific residence, public place,neighborhood or municipality identified; further type of violenceaccompanying the homicide (i.e., torture, rape).The second part deals with sources and makes it possible to traceparallels between two newspapers, identifying whether a front-pageheadline and/or photographs of the victims and suspects were publishedand describing the amount of space given to each incident. Thisinformation helps identify the type and amount of treatment the mediaprovides to homicides.The third section contains information that may be used to tracevictims' profiles according to variables such as: name, age, race, sex,occupation, physical characteristics, involvement with drugs, types ofdrugs, involvement in illicit activities, type of illicit activities, and therelationship between the victim and the suspect.Except for the information on the relationship between the victimand the suspect, the same variables available on the victims in section threeare given for the suspects in the fourth section.The fourth section provides special value for the discussion onviolence and criminality in Brazil. If it is essential to have a profile for the