Government changes Conanda and wants more power in tutelary councils

The government of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva increased political representation in the National Council for the Rights of Children and Adolescents (Conanda), linked to the Ministry of Human Rights. The council was resumed in February this year and has a new composition, with the largest number of councilors in the history of the collegiate.

By decree of the PT government, published on April 5, the number of holders rises from 11 to 15 government representatives, and has another 15 holders of civil entities. The change responds to the increase in ministries on the Esplanada and in PT or leftist civil entities interested in having power in this sector, in addition to reinforcing what already existed previously in relation to human rights policies with a leftist ideological bias.

One of the clearest examples of this trend was the case of the controversial Conanda resolution that authorized intimate visits to juvenile offenders in socio-educational units and allowed couples formed between adolescents in these units to remain “in the same accommodation, taking into account the right to exercise privacy. sexuality, affectivity and coexistence”.

Prior to decisions like this, the Bolsonaro government had already tried to make changes to Conanda, through a decree, with the aim of reducing the composition of directors – from 28 to 18 members – in addition to changing the council’s guidelines, such as reducing the number of meetings and the requirement of a public selection process for civil society representatives. The justification for such changes was that there was a strong ideological burden on federal councils and commissions, which prevented the entry of civil society representatives with different ideas.

The changes were barred by the Federal Supreme Court (STF) in 2021, after Minister Luís Roberto Barroso granted an injunction to reinstate former Conanda advisors and also to force the election of representatives of civil society. In the judgment of the action, nine ministers considered the changes made by former president Jair Bolsonaro to be unconstitutional. The only dissenting vote was that of Minister Marco Aurélio de Mello.

The previous decree established that the President of Conanda was always appointed by the President of the Republic from among the members of the collegiate body, to ensure that the Executive Branch, elected by vote, set the tone expected by society for the group. In the new PT administration, the council once again has the attribution of choosing the president of the collegiate body, with the annual alternation between presidents and vice-presidents, from the government and civil society.

Still in the previous decree, Conanda’s assemblies were quarterly and by videoconference – mainly to save money and speed up meetings. Already, in 2023, the assemblies will be monthly and face-to-face.

The current president of Conanda is the current national secretary for the Rights of Children and Adolescents of the MDHC, Ariel de Castro Alves. The deputy is psychologist Marina de Pol Poniwas, who presents herself on social networks as a lesbian, feminist and “batuqueira”. For the next year, leadership will alternate, with the presidency represented by civil society and the vice-presidency by the federal government.

political influences

First Lady Janja Lula da Silva participated in one of Conanda’s sessions, held on April 18. At the meeting, Janja was named honorary counselor for children and adolescents and criticized the previous management, in addition to giving signs of the political influences that should guide the council’s decisions.

“The protection of children and adolescents is part of my professional life, so it is an issue with which I am very close. Conanda regains a representativeness that should never have been diminished. We know all the destruction that the previous government did, but we are here, we fight, we survive and we win, that is what matters”, he said.

Janja also referred to the supposed need for political action in the elections of the tutelary councils. According to her, it would be “necessary to retake positions co-opted by the extreme right and fundamentalists in these places”. “This election is very important. We need advisors who really represent the protection of children and adolescents”, she reinforced.

In the opinion of Judge Alexandre Meinberg, holder of the Childhood and Youth Court of Barra do Garças (MT) and executive director of the Brazilian Association of Conservative Jurists in Mato Grosso (Abrajuc-MT), the changes in Conanda and the declarations of the first dama light a warning about the negative consequences of ideological influence in the care of children and adolescents.

“Historically, what we noticed mainly in progressive parties, more focused on the political left wing, is that they tend to try to control not the will of the voter, but the bodies that control the elections of tutelary councils. Why? hands the referee and you can say how the match will be played and if it will favor another field, or a political or ideological aspect”, says Meinberg.

Election of Tutelary Councils

The Tutelary Councils are municipal bodies responsible for ensuring compliance with the rights of children and adolescents. Among its main attributions are receiving and forwarding complaints of violence and negligence, applying protective measures, in addition to providing guidance to families and guardians on how to ensure the well-being of minors.

The election of guardianship councilors is held every four years and, in 2023, it will be on October 1st. The deadline to apply for the position of guardianship councilor in a given municipality ended last Friday (28). The qualifying steps include the application and evaluation of the required documentation, psychological and psychiatric evaluation, preparatory course and general knowledge test.

To apply for the position, the interested party must be in full enjoyment of their political rights, have moral suitability proven by means of civil and criminal certificates issued by the State and Federal Courts, be over 21 years old, have completed high school and reside in the area of scope of the Subprefecture where the Council for which you intend to apply is located.

Currently, there are approximately 5,956 tutelary councils across the country, with at least one in each Brazilian municipality. These bodies are made up of five councilors elected by the local population for a four-year term, with each councilor being remunerated for the work performed.

On April 11, the president of the Superior Electoral Court (TSE), Minister Alexandre de Moraes, met with the secretary for children and adolescents, Ariel de Castro Alves, to discuss the support of the Electoral Justice in the unified process for choosing of guardianship counselors across the country. The use of electronic ballot boxes in elections for guardianship councils is not new, it is up to the municipality to request it from the electoral justice.

According to secretary Alves, the municipal councils for children and adolescents coordinate the choice of councilors through their own electoral commissions.

According to Judge Meinberg, Conanda, as a body whose function is to regulate the laws that deal with issues that affect children and adolescents, can also regulate the elections of guardianship councils.

In addition to considering political and ideological influences in the elections of tutelary councils a risk, Meinberg criticized this type of process for the composition of the council. According to him, many counselors are elected without having adequate training, zeal and care to take care of the rights of children and adolescents. “I, particularly, do not see with good eyes that councilors are elected, because many times they are elected without having any vocation, just with the intention of having a job. We see people who are not qualified in this function, which, in my opinion, is extremely important “, he explains.

Among the advisors’ attributions, Meinberg mentioned that they can request that families unable to support their children lose custody of them. And in the face of suspicions of physical, emotional and, mainly, sexual abuse, they can file police reports, even if the parents do not.