Organizations call for UN investigation for praises to the military coup

On April 1st, the Arns Commission, the Brazilian Bar Association, and the Vladimir Herzog Institute, among other organizations, sent a petition to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), requesting that Brazilian authorities be investigated for commemoration and acclaim of the military coup of 1964.

On March 31, and for the second year in a row, the date that marked the beginning of the authoritarian period in Brazil was commemorated by the President of the Republic. In a public statement, Jair Bolsonaro mentioned the date as 'freedom day', while the vice president, Hamilton Mourão, stated in his Twitter profile that "56 years ago, the Armed Forces intervened in national politics to confront the disorder, subversion, and corruption that shook the institutions and scared the population." In addition, the Defense Ministry's agenda stated that the “1964 movement is a milestone for Brazilian democracy.”

According to the report of the National Truth Commission, during the period of the military dictatorship, there were 434 forced disappearances and political assassinations, killings of small farmers and Indigenous people, politically motivated arrests, press censorship, and many other violations of human rights. In Brazil, the civil society is attentive and, through entities, has signed international commitments to do justice, reparation, and ensure the right to memory and truth.

The human rights defense organizations sent a letter to Fabián Salvioli, UN Special Rapporteur on the Promotion of Truth and Justice so that the UN can carry out an official mission to Brazil to evaluate the behavior of the President of the Republic and other national authorities, who have been praising the coup, and the dismantling of the policies of Memory, Truth, and Justice. The attitudes of these authorities are considered by the entities as "negationist acts".

Photo: Tânia Rego / Agência Brasil