Who ordered the killing of Marielle and Anderson? – 04/17/2023 – Policies and Justice

Tomorrow (18th) the Superior Court of Justice may issue a historic decision on access to information about those who ordered the murders of Marielle and Anderson. This decision is particularly important in a country like Brazil, where daring to fight for rights, equality and justice is extremely dangerous.

According to a 2022 report by the international organization Front Line Defenders, Brazil is among the five countries —Colombia, Ukraine, Mexico, Brazil and Honduras— that concentrate 80% of the murders of human rights defenders in the world.

Violence rooted here for generations, since colonial times, is based on ideals of racial, sexual and gender, territorial and economic inequalities. Still in this context, political gender and racial violence is a common practice against people who defend a rights agenda —especially black and indigenous women— when trying to occupy, or be elected to spaces of institutional power.

Among the various forms of expression of this type of violence, political feminicide is used as a tool for imposing fear and silencing dissent from thinking and existing.

It is in this context that the Marielle Franco Institute was born, after Marielle was murdered on March 14, 2018, just over two years after being elected as the fifth most voted councilor in the city of Rio de Janeiro.

The attack that took Mari — someone who for so long acted as a staunch defender of human rights — is also an attack on democracy and, even after half a decade, it still has not been solved.

After her death, Marielle and Anderson’s families have been the most important link in continuity in the efforts for Justice, despite the successive changes in command of the investigations and reports of interference and obstruction over the last five years.

It is important to recognize the historical role played by family members of victims of violence, being fundamental for cases not to be forgotten and for the justice system to fulfill its role diligently, quickly, impartially and effectively.

In Brazil, the movements of mothers and relatives of victims of violence and murdered human rights defenders have been teaching us a lot about the relevance of their political organization for memory, justice and reparation.

Even so, they continue to face several challenges in guaranteeing their access to justice and —particularly— the right to access information about such cases, which makes family members victims once again of State negligence.

In this sense, as part of the puzzle involving the case of Marielle and Anderson, the result of the judgment by the Superior Court of Justice of the request for access to information on the investigations of the masterminds of this crime can be paradigmatic.

If favorable, this decision could positively impact other cases and facilitate access to justice for other mothers and relatives of victims of violence and murdered defenders. Guaranteeing family members access to the investigation process is an obligation of the State —provided, including, by Brazilian law and in international human rights treaties and conventions— which allows the full promotion of access to justice, truth and reparation .

The editor, Michael França, asks each participant of the space “Politics and Justice” of Folha de S.Paulo to suggest a song to the readers. In this text, the song chosen by Lígia Batista was “História pra lullabies grande”, samba-enredo from Estação Primeira de Mangueira in 2019.

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