The Arns Commission meets with the Washington Office on Latin America (Wola)

A US non-governmental organization dedicated to promoting human rights, the Washington Office on Latin America (Wola) hosted the Arns Commission (AC) and Conectas Human Rights in its headquarters in the US capital. The Arns Commission was represented by Maria Hermínia Tavares de Almeida, a political scientist and one of the founders of the organization, and Conectas was represented by Camila Asano, an internationalist. At the meeting, they discussed the cooperation between the three organizations in order to give more visibility, in the United States, to the agenda for the defense of human rights in Brazil.

The meeting, on November 4th and 5th, was supported by Wola so that the Brazilian organizations could make contacts with Democrat congressmen who, in September, signed a resolution expressing “deep concern about threats to human rights, the Rule of Law, democracy, and the environment in Brazil”.

On the 4th, Maria Herminia and Camila met with Matthew Clausen, president of Wola, and Gimena Sanchez Garzoli, responsible for the Andean region. On the 5th, they talked with the assistants of three signatories of the resolution, Ro Khanna, from the 17th District of California; Debra Haaland, from the 1st District of New Mexico and the first female Indigenous congresswoman of the Congress; and Raul Grijalva, from the 3rd District of Arizona. They also met with the assistants of Congressman Albio Sires, chairman of the Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere, Civilian Security and Trade of the Committee on Foreign Affairs.

In the resolution filed with the U.S. House of Representatives, the congressmen presented a list of points of attention related to the Brazilian political scenario, followed by 11 requests. They ask that President Bolsonaro “refrain from using hate speech and threatening minorities” and, advocating a thorough investigation into the death of councilwoman Marielle Franco, they demand that the U.S. government review the designation of Brazil as a major non-NATO ally, ceasing military and police cooperation, “unless the State Department formally certifies that effective measures are being taken to prevent unjustified killings by Brazilian security agents, in order to investigate and judicialize deaths of activists, and to meet international human rights standards.”

The representatives of the Brazilian organizations presented an overview of the current human rights scenario in Brazil, highlighting the issues of police violence, attempted setbacks in legal frameworks, risks to environmental protection, and violations of the rights of native peoples. “The conversation was very fruitful. We left with them documents and recommendations of materials, like the video The Guardians of the Forest (Os guardiães da floresta), produced by the Socio-Environmental Institute,” said Maria Herminia.

The Arns Commission and Conectas have also visited People for the American Way, an organization for the defense of the progressive agenda, founded by television producer Norman Lear. They spoke to researcher Peter Montgomery, a specialist on the extreme right and the religious right in the USA and its international ramifications, and the current director of Right Wing Watch.