Pubdate: Thur, 21 Sep 1999 Source: Reuters Copyright: 1999 Reuters Limited. Author: Axel Bugge REPORT ON DRUGS, KILLINGS ACCUSES BRAZIL LAWMAKER BRASILIA (Reuters) - A Brazilian congressional commission Tuesday approved a damning report on drug trafficking and the activity of death squads in the jungle state of Acre, linking them to lawmaker Hildebrando Pascoal. The report, by a special commission, accused 28 people, including Pascoal, his brother and two of his cousins, of being members of an international crime ring, a spokeswoman for the head of the congressional panel said. Pascoal has been under investigation for months by another congressional committee for allegedly running a notorious death squad in the Amazonian border state. At the beginning of August, the committee unanimously decided to begin proceedings to strip Pascoal of his congressional immunity. The lower chamber of Congress will vote Wednesday on the question. "If Pascoal's immunity is lifted, the public prosecutor can ask the courts in Acre to start a case against him, and he will be arrested by the federal police," said Cristina Bravo, speaking for Laura Carneiro, who heads the drug commission. The case has highlighted the lawlessness of Brazil's remote areas, especially in the massive Amazon basin, where policing and border controls are virtually impossible to carry out. A member of the drug commission, who asked not to be named, told Reuters that Pascoal had asked eight embassies in Brasilia for asylum. The deputy said the public prosecutor had guaranteed him that an arrest order for Pascoal would be issued as soon as the lower chamber voted to lift Pascoal's immunity. Pascoal was expelled from the Liberal Front Party, a member of President Fernando Henrique Cardoso's four-party coalition government, when the investigation began. Local media reports say Pascoal's death squads killed at least 30 people, some by beheading. Pascoal was in charge of Acre's military police before becoming a deputy. He has denied accusations of murder and torture but has admitted he handed out passes allowing people to go through police checkpoints without being searched. Brazil has become increasingly popular as a transit route for drug traffickers from neighboring countries, including Colombia. They take advantage of poor policing along its long borders to smuggle cocaine and other drugs through the country. - --- MAP posted-by: manemez j lovitto