Lawyers for 8/1 defendants report rights violations to the OAS

Lawyers and members of the Association of Relatives and Victims of January 8 (ASFAV) reported, this Friday (3), to the Organization of American States (OAS) about 10 rights violations committed against prisoners and 25 more issues which they point out as procedural irregularities. The complaints are in reference to prisoners who are being tried by the Federal Supreme Court (STF).

In the letter, delivered personally – at the OAS headquarters – in Washington, USA, the lawyers ask for speed in the trial and report the “episode of depredation of public property”, which resulted in the arrest of more than 1,500 people – a group of people which was inside public buildings and another of “people demonstrating peacefully in front of the Army Headquarters – in Brasília”.

According to the lawyers, “the overwhelming majority of these people did not participate in the acts of depredation”. “As a result of these arrests, various illegalities, unconstitutionalities, violations of human rights and prerogatives of lawyers began to occur and continue to this day”, they point out in the document.

Among the human rights violations committed against the people arrested, they mention that there was “physical and psychological torture carried out by the Federal Police; imprisonment of elderly people; overcrowding of penal houses; poor diet; lack of hygiene items; difficulty in visits imposed on families; procedural politicization; and excessive severity of the precautionary measures imposed on released defendants.”

In the document, the lawyers also list a series of “procedural irregularities”, and among them they highlight “endless investigative inquiries”, “suspicion of the rapporteur” and “incompetence of the STF to judge the cases arising from the acts of January 8”. They also point out “oral arguments via video”, “short deadlines for subpoenas for hearings” and “illegal use of handcuffs”.

In relation to violations of lawyers’ prerogatives, the following were highlighted: denial of access to files, impossibility of private communication with clients during hearings, arrest of a lawyer for practicing her profession, among others.

In addition to the OAS, the letter was also delivered to the American Bar Association (ABA) – an institution that defends the rights of lawyers, and they call for “urgent taking of measures to ensure the human rights of the accused, as well as the prerogatives of lawyers – as well as the responsibility of rights violators”.