Parliamentarians take denunciation of abuses with 8/1 prisoners abroad

The delegation of parliamentarians who met at the headquarters of the United Nations (UN), in New York, this Friday (21st), to file a complaint with the human rights committee of the entity about the arbitrary actions committed against almost 1,500 demonstrators arrested during the acts that took place on January 8, evaluated their attack as positive and an inaugural milestone of a series of others abroad.

Senators Eduardo Girão (Novo-CE), Carlos Portinho (PL-RJ) and Magno Malta (PL-ES) and deputy Marcel Van Hattem (Novo-RS) traveled on their own to the United States. For them, even unfounded criticism from the press about their initiative helped to fulfill the essential objective of the delegation: to strengthen the political gesture in defense of citizens who are having their basic rights violated and still expose the disturbing facts to the eyes of international public opinion.

The petition delivered by the group to the Brazilian ambassador to the UN, Sérgio França Danese, had almost 100 signatures from congressmen from different parties, including the situation. The petition aims to inform the country’s official office at the multilateral organization about a detailed report, about 50 pages long, that deals with the “very serious violations of human rights” faced by the detainees. This report will still be translated and forwarded electronically to the human rights committee of the organization, based in Geneva.

The group’s next move will be to forward the dossier to the Organization of American States (OAS), headquartered in Washington, which, if necessary, will forward the case to its inter-American court, located in Costa Rica, if the Brazilian State does not provide adequate clarification. Rodrigo Valadares (União Brasil-SE), one of the signatories of the petition, pointed out that the document narrates all the irregularities that occurred in Brazil, including violations of human rights and political persecution, in addition to the lack of individualization in the behavior of the detainees.

Eduardo Girão lamented the need to seek help abroad, highlighting that it was necessary to alert the world about the absurdities that are taking place in Brazil. He believes that the definitive solution to contain the escalation of actions against democracy will only come when the population returns to the streets to protest in an organized and orderly manner. The senator argues that the detainees are being persecuted and subjected to inhuman and illegal treatment, in violation of the precepts established in international treaties to which Brazil is a signatory, such as the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

Parliamentarians also point out that, even after seven months of arrests, more than 200 protesters remain in detention, with requests for the provisional release of defenders denied, lack of access by lawyers to the records and evidence, as well as the absence of an evaluation by a medical board and the granting of house arrest due to comorbidities.