SAO PAULO, June 11 (UPI) -- Despite professed efforts to protect its children, Brazil is still violating their rights, local news sources reported Friday.
The United Nations in Geneva received numerous reports from NGO's supporting the claim, Estado de Sao Paulo newspaper reported.
Among the violations: 1 million children between the ages of 7 and 14 do no attend school, said U.N. officials who added they will be releasing their own report on the rights of Brazil's children in September.
Other infractions include poor health regimens for children and illegal child labor. In all, the U.N. claims the rights of 23 percent of Brazil's 61 million children and adolescents are being violated.
While most of the data was compiled from violations that happened during the 8-year administration of President Fernando Henrique Cardoso, U.N. human rights authorities said that the situation has not improved during the 17 months that President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has been in office.
