PGR asks STF to declare work analogous to slavery as a non-prescriptive crime – 04/03/2023 – Market

The PGR (Attorney General’s Office) asked this Monday (3) the STF (Supreme Federal Court) to recognize as imprescriptible the crime of work analogous to slavery.

If this occurs, there will be no time limit for punishing this type of illicit practice.

In the action, the Attorney General of the Republic, Augusto Aras, also asks the Supreme Court to determine by means of an injunction (urgent and provisional decision) that, until the judgment of the case, judges and courts refrain from declaring the prescription of this type of crime. .

Aras, who was twice appointed to the Attorney General’s Office by Jair Bolsonaro (PL) and was known for his inertia in the face of the former president’s actions during his tenure, has been trying to approach leftist agendas to make it possible for him to be reappointed to the post by the President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva (PT).

The Penal Code provides for a penalty of 2 to 8 years for anyone who reduces someone to a condition analogous to slavery, either subjecting the person to forced labor or exhausting workdays, subjecting them to degrading working conditions or, even, restricting their movement due to of debt.

“The establishment of a time limit for the punishment by the State of crimes of this nature represents a violation of the following fundamental precepts: human dignity, social value of work, fundamental objective of building a free and solidary society”, says the PGR.

The body also states that this setting of limits violates the “international principle of the prevalence of human rights, as well as the rights to freedom and physical integrity of the worker, social protection of work, expropriation by practices analogous to slavery and the imprescriptibility of the crime of racism”.

According to the Federal Public Ministry, last year alone, 2,575 workers in situations similar to slavery were rescued in the country.

Also according to the agency, until March 20 of this year, the number was 918 people, which represents “a record increase of 124% compared to the same period of 2022”.

“The frequent statute of limitations for these crimes – which is incompatible with constitutional and international provisions – directly impacts the fight against this practice, encourages the feeling of impunity and reduces the protection of victims”, says the agency.