PN # 59 - Democracy cannot coexist with massacres

The Arns Commission demands that the authorities in Bahia, Rio de Janeiro, and São Paulo, as well as the federal government in Brasília, respond forcefully to the recent incidents that have resulted in dozens and dozens of deaths in these three states.

There is an indissoluble link between democracy and respect for human rights. No democracy is worthy of the name when the violation of these rights becomes systematic, with no effective response from the powers of the State.

The numbers of deaths resulting from police operations reported by the media are contradictory, unreliable, and change with new reports every day. The official response, so far, has been to reaffirm that these were confrontations with organized crime and that public security agents were attacked by criminals.

There is a growing understanding in Brazil that democracy is incompatible with any form of racism. Each massacre leaves no doubt as to the objectively racist outcome of these operations. The majority of the bodies are black people. Black people are considered suspects by many police officers, who presume them to be criminals. In the case of Bahia, which has a clear majority of African descent, to the pride of our country, the proportion of black bodies murdered is close to 100%.

It is intolerable that official statements treat the executions of people who have never had any criminal record as mere collateral damage, with teenagers attending school and young children usually among the dead.

The Arns Commission rejects the refrain that the defense of human rights represents a defense of criminals. We consider that every police officer killed in the exercise of their legal and constitutional duties should be honored as a national hero, and their family protected with all possible reparations.

Furthermore, we propose that all professionals in the public security systems recognize themselves as defenders of human rights and be seen as such by the citizens.

Under no circumstances can operations be allowed to descend into genuine revenge attacks. It is imperative that, in all three states, completely impartial investigations are conducted, with protected hearings for each witness, reliable expert reports monitored by the Ombudsman's Office, and public presentation of the recordings made by body cameras.

Any excesses, illegalities, or crimes committed by state agents must be punished in an exemplary manner. The law states that no police officer has the authority to kill, except in self-defense. A recent attempt to sneak provisions on exclusions of illegality into Brazilian legislation was rightly rejected by our institutions.

A country that is proud to have overcome a long period of undermining the pillars of the democratic rule of law, culminating in the depredations of January 8, cannot underestimate the risks that the spiral of police violence represents in the same direction.

When civilian power loses control over the forces subordinate to it, democracy is once again seriously damaged.

Human rights defense organizations from the UN and the OAS reacted promptly to the massacres in July and August, which clearly undermined the image of a country that has been making a vigorous return to the international scene as victorious in confronting a tyrannical uprising.

The Arns Commission feels compelled to make a special appeal to the authorities in Brasilia, particularly the secretaries of the Executive Branch, so that they immediately mobilize all their instruments and resources to halt this escalation.

No omission or indifference can be tolerated when the right to life is at stake, the cornerstone and central axis of the entire historical construction of human rights.