Lula government recognizes human rights violations – 12/11/2023 – Power

This year, the Lula (PT) government changed the way the Brazilian Executive acts in the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, partially recognized responsibilities and apologized publicly in three cases in which the country is being judged for violating fundamental rights.

The MDHC (Ministry of Human Rights and Citizenship) also intends to start holding public acts of apology determined by the court next year in six cases with sentences already published.

The change in stance and the ministry’s intentions, however, are viewed with skepticism by victims’ families and their representatives.

They consider that recognition at hearings is limited and demands compliance with other court penalties, such as punishment and the adoption of public policies to prevent the repetition of violations.

Apology ceremonies also face resistance from the Armed Forces in cases involving the period of the military dictatorship (1964-1985). Furthermore, the re-creation of the Commission on the Dead and Missing, for example, has been postponed so as not to increase tension with the military.

Among the condemnations are the lack of investigation, trial and punishment of those responsible for the murder of journalist Vladimir Herzog, in 1975, and for the disappearance and death of 62 people in the Araguaia Guerrilha (1972-74).

The cases at the Inter-American Court of Human Rights also deal with land conflicts, the death of human rights defenders and police violence, among other topics.

The convictions refer to cases that occurred between the dictatorship and the 1990s, but were not resolved by the public authorities over time, which is why the families appealed to the international court.

Since the beginning of the year, the MDHC has paid around R$35 million in compensation determined by the court, but withheld during the Jair Bolsonaro (PL) administration. It also fulfilled resolutive points such as publishing sentences in the Official Gazette and newspapers.

The most symbolic change, however, is the partial recognitions before judges during trial hearings.

Partial recognition and apology occurred in the cases of the quilombolas affected by the Alcântara base, the mothers of Acari and two black women who suffered racial discrimination at work with delays in punishing those responsible.

The position is not unprecedented, but a change in relation to the pattern adopted by the government from Lula’s second term to the Bolsonaro administration, through the Michel Temer and Dilma Rousseff governments.

The only case in which Brazil partially recognized the violation of human rights was the one filed by the family of Damião Ximenes Lopes for mistreatment and death inside a psychiatric hospital. This was the country’s first court conviction. Since then, in the following 11 cases, the country has not recognized the violations of which he was accused, having been convicted in 10.

In the case of Acari’s mothers, the government only recognized the rape for the deaths of Edmea Euzébio and Sheila Conceição, but not for the failures in the investigations into the massacre that killed 11 young people from the favela in the north of Rio de Janeiro two years earlier. Edmea was killed when fighting for the punishment of military police officers suspected of the murders.

“The recognition they made was insufficient. They recognized Edmea’s case because there was no way to say no. To this day, seven families do not have a death certificate. In addition to the 33 years of waiting, these are decades filled with pain for all families without recognition”, said Aline Leite, sister of one of the victims of the massacre.

The coordinator of the NGO Justiça Global, Eduardo Baker, states that the recognitions will only be positive if they are accompanied by compliance with resolutive points determined by the court that provide public policies to prevent the repetition of violations.

“If recognition is the first step in this direction [medidas de não repetição], is positive. But if, when generating these measures, the State blocks their application, it is of little value. I’m a little cautious and reluctant that we’re going in a better direction. But we need to invest in the space that is open”, said Baker, who followed the Alcântara case.

This year, Brazil concluded compliance with the resolutive points of the Ximenes Lopes case. The archiving occurred after the implementation of a permanent training course in human rights and mental health by MDHC.

Isabel Penido, general coordinator of the ministry’s International Systems for the Protection of Human Rights, states that partial recognition and compliance with some resolutive points are a way of regaining the government’s credibility among the victims’ families.

“I think the petitioners [familiares] They expected us to be able to resolve things faster. I welcome, understand and listen a lot about this. Our speech is not just delivery, delivery, delivery. We also have a critical perspective, but I’m optimistic,” she said.

The coordinator for Brazil and the Southern Cone of Cejil (Center for Justice and International Law), Helena Rocha, says she sees a “change in the balance of power” of Brazilian institutions involved in court trials. For her, MDHC gained more space compared to AGU and Itamaraty in acting on these cases.

“The AGU had a position of defending all points until the last resort. Even without foundations and arguments, it presented a opposition. This formal defense often contradicted the public position of the Brazilian authorities. The MDHC gained a greater role”, said Rocha.

The attorney for the AGU International Affairs Union, Boni Soares, states that recognition takes place on a case-by-case basis, as long as it provides legal certainty for the country.

“This analysis is case by case. We recognize in these cases because there was legal certainty, because they were facts that were proven [reais]. Even though we have legal security, there is a new government that has this approach and agrees with this type of stance in the process. They come in with the political will to do it and we, with the legal security to make it viable”, he said.

Soares stated that he intends to ensure that recognition occurs before the cases reach the court, when they are still before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, which carries out a type of screening for the admissibility of the cases. “I hope to have, in a few years’ time, more agreements than sentences.”

---

INTER-AMERICAN COURT OF HUMAN RIGHTS

What it is: the IDH Court was created by the San Jose Pact (Costa Rica), signed by 20 countries, including Brazil. He created, among other devices, a regional system for the promotion and protection of human rights. In it, the IACHR (Inter-American Commission on Human Rights) receives reports of violations and, if the requirements are met, presents the cases for judgment at the Inter-American Court.

CASES IN WHICH BRAZIL RECOGNIZED IN 2023 VIOLATION OF THE COUNTRY

• Quilombolas de Alcântara Case – Quilombolas de Alcântara (MA) accuse Brazil of delaying the demarcation of lands located in the area used for the construction of the base for launching rockets. They also claim that the work forced the displacement of natives, as well as making their access to the sea and subsistence through fishing unfeasible. Government only recognized the delay in demarcation and lands

• Mothers of Acari – Civil and military police kidnapped and killed a group of 11 young people, residents of the Acari favela, from a farm in Magé in 1991, and threw their bodies into a river. Two years later, Edméa Euzébio, leader of the “mothers of Acari” movement, was murdered along with Sheila Conceição after testifying against police officers. The massacre remained unpunished because the victims were not located and ended up being prescribed, while the murder of Edmea and Sheila is still under trial. Government recognized the violation only in the case of the deaths of Edmea and Sheila.

• Dos Santos and Ferreira case – Two women accuse Brazil of judicial racism for the delay in concluding a case against a company for discriminatory practices. They applied for a job in 1998, but were rejected on the grounds that the vacancy had been filled. However, hours later a white woman applied and got the position. Brazil recognized the delay in concluding the judicial process, but not racism in the courts.

MAIN BRAZILIAN CASES IN THE INTER-AMERICAN COURT OF HUMAN RIGHTS

• Herzog Case – On October 25, 1975, journalist Vladimir Herzog appeared dead in a cell at Doi-Codi, the military government’s repression body. The official version said that the journalist had committed suicide by hanging himself with a belt from his prison jumpsuit. Several pieces of evidence, however, pointed to the fact that the journalist had been tortured and killed by military agents. Herzog was a communist militant linked to the PCB (Brazilian Communist Party).

Brazil was ordered in 2018 to, among other measures, restart investigation and criminal proceedings into the case. The measure depends on a review of the Amnesty Law.

• Araguaia Guerrilla Case – Group of PC do B (Communist Party of Brazil) militants installed since 1966 in the Araguaia River region was discovered in 1971 by the military dictatorship, which made three attacks against the rebels. The actions led to the disappearance of 62 people, whose remains were never located.

Brazil was ordered in 2010 to, among other measures, restart the investigation and criminal proceedings into the case and seek the whereabouts of the missing victims, resolution points that have not yet been met

• Nova Brasília Case – Military police carried out two massacres in 1994 and 1995 in the Nova Brasília favela, located in Complexo do Alemão, north of Rio de Janeiro, in which 26 people were killed. Investigations revealed extralegal executions carried out by police officers, in addition to rapes against three young people in the community.

Brazil was ordered in 2017 to, among other measures, punish those responsible for the massacre, create mechanisms for independent investigation into crimes committed by police officers and establish targets for reducing lethality in Rio de Janeiro, all of which have not yet been met, in the court’s assessment.