Washington Brazil Office

Mar 22 2024 | Nº. 109

Editorial

This week, Minister of Justice and Public Safety Ricardo Lewandowski announced a potential breakthrough in the ongoing investigation into the assassination of former Rio de Janeiro city councilwoman Marielle Franco and her driver Anderson Gomes, who were murdered on March 14, 2018. Flávio Dino, Lewandowski’s predecessor appointed to the Federal Supreme Court (STF) by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, had federalized the investigation, helping to establish the chain of execution of the murder, but had not managed to identify to person who ordered the crime. On Tuesday, Lewandowski made public a new plea bargain deal with the alleged killer, a man whose testimony is expected to not only potentially help solve Marielle’s case but to unwind the complex machinations of organized crime in Rio. “We know that this collaboration is a means of obtaining evidence and brings forth very important elements that leads us to believe that we will soon have a solution to the murder of councilwoman Marielle Franco,” Lewandowski declared.

Marielle’s assassination has been recognized in Brazil and beyond as more than just a heinous crime but as an attack on the country’s democratic system. During the 2022 presidential campaign, Lula insisted he would make solving the case a priority and pointed out longstanding ties between former president Jair Bolsonaro and paramilitary forces known as milícias that are today at the heart of organized crime in Rio, the state that launched Bolsonaro’s career. Marielle’s widow, Monica Benicio, however, took to social media to complain about the handling of the case: “We, Marielle and Anderson's family members, can no longer bear the lack of answers about who ordered Marielle's murder or empty promises about supposed deadlines that do not pan out, which only serve to increase our pain and anxiety.” Criticizing the media’s intermittent interest in a case she called “a stain on Brazilian democracy,” Benicio harshly criticized Minister Lewandowski himself: “what really surprised me was seeing a Minister of State act in the same way, especially with the hollow ending of his statement, when he said ‘soon we think we will have concrete results.’ We want concrete answers. I hope that the next press conference called will be to make a concrete statement that is truly committed to justice.”

There is a clear political element to this story. Marielle, an Afro-Brazilian lesbian, was a member of the left-wing Socialism and Liberty Party (PSOL). Managing to satisfactorily resolve the high-profile case of her murder would be an undeniable victory for the rule of law and Brazilian institutions, which have been systematically undermined in recent years by extremist forces on the far right. It remains to be seen, six years later, whether the state can deliver.

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Highlights

IMPRISONED AGAIN. On Friday, March 22, Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes ordered the arrest of Army Lieutenant Colonel Mauro Cid, President Bolsonaro's former aide-de-camp. Cid was arrested shortly after a hearing he attended to clarify the content of statements he made in recordings revealed by the weekly magazine Veja. In the recordings, Cid says that he was coerced by the Federal Police to say what he didn't want to say in the plea agreement signed between him and the investigators. Cid had already been arrested before, but had received the benefit of house arrest with the use of an electronic ankle bracelet. Now he's back in jail. One of Bolsonaro's closest aides is now at risk of having his plea deal annulled.
MILITARY COUP. President Lula canceled a series of initiatives taken by members of his government to critically mark the 60th anniversary of the 1964 coup, which began a long period of 21 years of a military dictatorship in Brazil. One of the actions canceled for March 31st was a public apology, that was to have been made on behalf of the Brazilian State by the Ministry of Human Rights. Lula also vetoed the launch of a campaign that would have the slogan “60 years of the coup 1964-2024 – without memory there is no future.” Lula's decision is a way of trying to please the armed forces, a sector that still calls the 1964 coup a "revolution," and whose members, the vast majority of whom are sympathetic to Bolsonaro, do not have a good relationship with Lula and the Workers’ Party.
GOVERNMENT POPULARITY. An opinion poll released this week by the Datafolha Institute showed that 35 percent of Brazilians consider Lula's presidential administration to be “great” or “good,” while 33 percent consider it “bad” or “terrible.” As the survey's margin of error is 2 percentage points, it is considered that Lula's approval and disapproval are on the same level. In relation to the previous survey from December 2023, there was a decline of 3 percentage points in the approval of the president. For 58 percent of those interviewed, Lula did less than he could have done so far, in one year and three months in office.
VACCINATION CARD. Former president Jair Bolsonaro was formally indicted this week in the process of investigating the falsification of documents proving that the holder had been vaccinated against Covid-19. According to the Federal Police, Bolsonaro's former aide-de-camp, lieutenant colonel Mauro Cid, issued false certificates to the then president and his daughter, Laura, with the help of health authorities in a municipality in Rio de Janeiro. The police investigation alleges that the falsified document would allow Bolsonaro, who campaigned against the use of vaccinations, to leave the country after the October 2022 presidential election in which Lula defeated him. The inquiry into the falsified vaccination card is connected to investigations into the planning of a coup d'état, thwarted on January 8, 2023. In addition to these two cases, Bolsonaro is also being investigated in another scandal, which involves the sale of jewelry owned by the Office of Presidency of Brazil.
BOLSONARO’S SON. Federal District prosecutors filed a complaint in court against Jair Bolsonaro, the youngest son of former president Jair Bolsonaro. He is accused of the crime of having forged documents to access bank financing for companies in which he is a partner. The former president's son had already been the target of search operations, carried out by the police in August, in this same investigation. This is yet another case involving Bolsonaro's children, who allegedly demanded kickbacks from the salaries of their congressional staff.
2022 CENSUS. The Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) released this week the results of the 2022 Brazilian demographic census. According to the data, more than half of the 203 million Brazilians – 54.8 percent of the population – live up to 150 km from the coast. In 2010, this percentage was higher, at 55.8 percent. The percentage of those who live within 150 km of an international border is 4.6 percent. Of the 10 places with the highest concentration of residents in Brazil, three are favelas in Rio de Janeiro: Rocinha (48.3 thousand inhabitants/km²), Jacarezinho (36 thousand inhabitants/km²) and Maré (29 thousand inhabitants/km²).
TAX RECORD. The Brazilian government's tax collection reached R$ 186.5 billion (US$ 37.4 billion) in February 2024, an increase of 12.3% compared to the same month of the previous year, when revenue had been of R$166.1 billion (US$33.3 billion). This was the Federal Government's highest tax collection for the month of February in the last 30 years. One of the reasons is the increase in taxation on offshore investments, which increased revenue by R$4 billion (US$803 million). These good results should help the government meet its goal of closing its fiscal deficit, an important target for Economy Minister Fernando Haddad.
INCOME FROM WORK. In 2023, income for work recorded its biggest jump since 1995. The real increase above inflation was 11.7 percent, which represents almost double that recorded in 2022 (6.6 percent) and surpasses the record mark achieved 29 years ago, when the adoption of the Real Plan caused an abrupt drop in inflation with positive impacts on gross labor income of 12.9 percent and an increase in purchasing power.

NEWS FROM WBO, ORGANIZATIONS AND SOCIAL MOVEMENTS:

CERRADO IN EUROPE. Representatives of Indigenous Peoples and traditional Brazilian communities carried out a campaign between March 10 and 22 in Amsterdam, Paris, and Brussels to warn about threats to the Cerrado (savanna). The campaign, called “Cerrado: Connection of Peoples, Cultures and Biomes,” consisted of meetings with national authorities and representatives of European institutions. The objective was to give visibility to the Cerrado as a key biome for life on earth given its unique biodiversity, river sources, and, among other aspects, its mutual relationship in maintaining other biomes such as the Amazon. The initiative is from Rede Cerrado, Articulation of Indigenous Peoples of Brazil (APIB), National Council of Traditional Peoples and Communities (CNPCT), with the support of Fern Forest Protection and the participation of the Washington Brazil Office.

CONFERENCE OF CITIES. The Pólis Institute draws attention to the resumption of the National Conference of Cities, which is a national cycle of debates for the formulation of public policies coordinated between federal, state and municipal governments. The guidelines for the events were published on March 1. The municipal events will take place from April 15 to June 30. The state events will be between July and September 15, with the national meeting scheduled for November in Brasília. “By occupying these spaces, we are appropriating the cities where we live, promoting fundamental changes for the well-being of all segments of the population, including people with disabilities, Black people, Indigenous people, peripheral people, women, LGBTQIAPN+, etc.”, says the Polis in a statement.

WALK OF SILENCE. The Vladimir Herzog Institute, alongside other civil society organizations, such as the Brazilian Bar Association (OAB) and the National Union of Students (UNE) is promoting the 4th Walk of Silence on March 31st, the sixtieth anniversary of the 1964 military coup d’état. The activity will follow the route between the former DOI-CODI headquarters, the dictatorship's repressive organ, which operated at Rua Tutóia 921, to Ibirapuera Park. The departure is scheduled for 4pm with the arrival in front of the Monument in Homage to the Dead and Missing Politicians at 6:30pm.

MONITORING. Next week the Institute for Development and Human Rights (IDDH) and FES Geneva will hold the event “Universal Periodic Review and the Role of National and Regional Civil Society Collectives,”s with the intention of promoting the creation of collectives of monitoring international recommendations on human rights. On the occasion, a practical guide on the topic will be launched and there will be an exchange of experiences on the South American context. Registration can be made until March 27th at this link.

Feature Article

Two International Condemnations of Brazil

By Jefferson Nascimento*

On March 14, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights issued two sentences related to cases involving Brazil. It was the first time that two cases involving the country were released on the same day since 2002, when Brazil accepted the jurisdiction of the court, which is based in San Jose, Costa Rica.

Brazil is the largest state under the jurisdiction of the Inter-American Court, as the United States has not ratified the American Convention on Human Rights and is therefore not under the court's scrutiny. However, Brazil's demographic weight does not translate into the number of cases in the Inter-American Court: Brazil has only received 20 sentences, behind Peru (109), Guatemala (57), Colombia (48), Ecuador (45), Argentina (41), Venezuela (34) and Honduras (27).

The first case (Tavares Pereira et al. vs. Brazil) recently judged by the Inter-American Court involves an episode that occurred on May 2, 2000 in the State of Paraná in southern Brazil. Members of the Landless Rural Workers Movement (MST), including families with children, were intercepted by the Military Police of the State of Paraná while heading to the state capital, Curitiba, for a march to demand agrarian reform. The impediment was allegedly motivated by an executive order prohibiting protesters from entering the city. The situation escalated into acts of violence by the police, resulting in the death of rural worker Antônio Tavares Pereira, with another 197 people affected and 69 injured. The Inter-American Court declared Brazil responsible for the disproportionate use of force by the Military Police of the State of Paraná, resulting in the violation of the right to life of Tavares Pereira and the physical integrity of the dozens of injured people, in addition to violations of freedom of expression, assembly and movement. It also recognized that the Brazilian State failed to adequately investigate the events and the related criminal proceedings, leading to impunity and violation of the rights of victims and their families to judicial guarantees and judicial protection. The Court also pointed out the violation of the personal integrity of Tavares Pereira's family due to his death and the subsequent lack of investigation and punishment.

As reparation, measures were determined such as psychological treatment for the victims, acts of recognition of international responsibility, and the obligation for Brazil to adjust its legal system related to the competence of the Military Justice, in addition to inserting specific content about dealing with public demonstrations in the training of the Paraná security forces.

The second case (Honorato et al. vs. Brazil) alludes to the extrajudicial execution of 12 people by the Military Police of the State of São Paulo during "Operation Castelinho" on March 5, 2002. The operation, not authorized by the courts and without supervision by the Public Ministry, used undercover informants – people serving sentences – among the victims. These informants lured the group into an ambush under the pretext of a robbery of a plane carrying valuables. Upon arriving at the location, the individuals were killed in an attack coordinated by at least 53 Military Police officers, with no evidence that they were armed or that there had been a confrontation. The Inter-American Court declared Brazil responsible for violations of the right to life, to the personal integrity of victims' families, to the truth, and to judicial guarantees and judicial protection. The investigations were marked by a lack of due diligence, manipulation of the crime scene, and obstruction of justice, resulting in impunity.

As reparatory measures, the Court of San Jose determined that Brazil must create a Working Group to investigate the actions of the police detachment involved in the episode, including extrajudicial executions, and offer preventive recommendations. The Brazilian State must implement geolocation and registration devices for vehicles and police officers, and recordings of police operations will be sent to control bodies. A regulatory framework will be established to temporarily remove police officers involved in civilian deaths, in addition to creating mechanisms to reopen investigations and legal proceedings, even with a statute of limitations. The jurisdiction of the Military Justice to investigate crimes against civilians will be eliminated, and the Public Ministry of São Paulo will receive adequate resources to investigate deaths caused by police officers.

Although the Inter-American Court focused on facts that occurred more than two decades ago, its decisions in the Tavares Pereira and Honorato cases speak to the present day, in which human rights violations against rural workers and abuses by police forces remain a sad reality.

Disputes over access to land and water and rural slave labor still affect more than half a million people in Brazil. According to data from the Pastoral Land Commission (CPT), the second highest number of conflicts in the countryside recorded in the last ten years took place in the first half of 2023 with 973 incidents, an increase of 8 percent over the previous period. This violence disproportionately affected Indigenous peoples, landless rural workers, squatters and quilombolas. According to the CPT, 302 deaths have been recorded in 59 massacres in rural Brazil since 1985. Of these, 129 victims in 27 massacres occurred between 2001 and 2022, that is, after the facts of the Tavares Pereira case.

Police violence represents a serious threat to human rights in Brazil, as recognized by international organizations and, now, reiterated by the Inter-American Court. According to data from the Brazilian Public Security Forum, 51,942 people were killed in Brazil because of police intervention between 2012 and 2022. In 2022 alone, there were 6,429 deaths, representing 13.5 percent of the total Intentional Violent Deaths (MVI) recorded in the country. This is racialized violence: although they represent 56 percent of the Brazilian population, Black people make up 76.5 percent of all MVIs and 83.1 percent of victims of police interventions in Brazil.

In the specific case of the State of São Paulo, where the violations in the Honorato case occurred, civil society organizations have shed light on the recent increase in police lethality. According to data from the Public Ministry, deaths resulting from police intervention rose by 94 percent in the first two months of 2024. In 2023, 28 people were killed in 40 days of Operation Shield, dubbed by experts as a "revenge operation" by security forces in reprisal for the death of police officers, which took place in Baixada Santista in the State of São Paulo. In 2024, a new edition of the operation, called Operation Summer, began on February 7, and by mid-March, had already killed 47 people.

The Inter-American Court's recent decisions against Brazil for police violence and conflict in the countryside represent an important advance in the fight for justice and human rights. They highlight not only past violations, but also current problems that affect the population, especially Indigenous and Black people, marked by land disputes and police abuse. The reparatory measures ordered aim not only to compensate victims, but also to encourage changes in state policies to prevent future violations, reaffirming the crucial role of international accountability in promoting human rights in Brazil.

*Jefferson Nascimento, lawyer, has a PhD in International Law from the University of São Paulo (USP) and the coordinator of the Human Rights program at the Washington Brazil Office.

Feature articles express the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editors or WBO.