One year later: still no justice or truth in Brazil

 
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, December 14, 2011. The Center for Justice and International Law (CEJIL), Grupo Tortura Nunca Mais do Rio de Janeiro (GTNM/RJ), Comissão de Familiares de Mortos e Desaparecidos Políticos voice their concern for the lack of diligence in fully implementing the sentence in the “Guerrilha do Araguaia” case.
 
On December 14, 2010, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights issued a sentence in the Gomes Lund and others v. Brazil case, condemning Brazil for the forced disappearance of 70 people, for the lack of adequate procedures to establish the truth and for the ongoing impunity of crimes committed 38 years earlier.
 
On the sentence´s first anniversary, the organizations representing the victims denounce that Brazil has only partially fulfilled its obligations to individually repair the families of the victims who were disappeared. The deadline to do so was today.
 
In April 2010, the Brazilian Supreme Court ruled that the amnesty law of 1979 could constitutionally be extended to those who committed crimes in the name of the dictatorship. In spite of this, only eight months later, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights issued its sentence in the Guerrilha do Araguaia case and determined that the State must criminally investigate the facts of the case, determine criminal responsibility  and place sanctions as stated by the Law. The Court ruled that “the provisions of the Brazilian Amnesty Law that impedes the investigation and punishment of serious human rights violations lack legal effect. As a consequence, they cannot continue to represent an obstacle in the investigation of the facts in the present case, nor for the identification and punishment of those responsible, nor can they have equal or similar impact regarding other cases of serious human rights violations.”
 
We recognize that some steps have been taken by the Brazilian State, including the creation of a Truth Commission and the approval of an Access to Information Law. These efforts may contribute to facilitating access to information and bringing to light the repressive structures that were in place, by reconstructing the historical context of the military dictatorship, under which these violations were committed.
 
However, to date, those responsible for the crimes committed under the dictatorship, particularly those of the Gomes Lund case, have still not been taken to court. These steps are therefore insufficient. Judicial truth must also be established through individual trials. The Court´s sentence notified in December 2010 specifically expresses that: “the activities and information that this [Truth] Commission will eventually obtain do not substitute the obligation of the State to establish the truth and ensure the legal determination of individual responsibility by means of criminal legal procedures.”
 
The Office of the Public Prosecutor in Brazil is currently carrying out investigations on the facts of the case. It is crucial that the Judiciary Branch, and particularly the Supreme Court, now act to ensure that the Amnesty Law does not continue to be a barrier against investigations and sanctions for crimes against humanity committed under the dictatorship.
 
The Inter-American Court´s sentence cannot be appealed. Therefore, as a signatory of the American Convention on Human Rights in 1992, and after accepting the jurisdiction of the Inter-American Court in 1998, Brazil has the international obligation to comply with the sentence in good faith.
 
The lack of investigation and judicial proceedings for the severe violations of human rights committed by State and private agents under the military dictatorship confirms Brazil´s resistance to combatting impunity for crimes against humanity. This has a negative impact on the consolidation of democracy in Brazil today.
The complete sentence is available in English here: http://www.corteidh.or.cr/docs/casos/articulos/seriec_219_ing.pdf



Contact in Rio de Janeiro:
Beatriz Affonso
Program Director for CEJIL in Brazil
(55 - 21) 2533-1660
affonso@cejil.org
 

Contact in Washington D.C:
Milli Legrain
Communications Coordinator
202 319 3000
mlegrain@cejil.org