When President Lula da Silva of Brazil addresses the UN Human Rights Council on June 15, 2009, he should explain why Brazil is using its vote in the council to protect countries with appalling human rights records.

Brazil should prosecute human rights abuses committed during the 1964-1985 dictatorship following a landmark legal decision, Human Rights Watch said today. 

Brazil is famous for its Carnival, the celebration before the morning-after solemnity of Lent that conjures up images of parades and samba pageants, with wildly celebrating participants from all over the world. A thriving tourism industry feeds on those images of free sexual expression during Carnival. But the mornings after can sometimes yield unwanted consequences.

The first session of the new country review mechanism of the UN Human Rights Council was undermined by inconsistencies and the timidity of some governments in reviewing others, Human Rights Watch said today. On April 18, 2008 the council concluded a two-week session in which it examined the records of 16 countries as part of the new Universal Periodic Review (UPR) process.

Police violence continues to be one of the country’s most intractable human rights problems. Faced with high levels of violent crime, especially in the country’s urban centers, some police engage in abusive practices rather than pursuing sound policing policies. Prison conditions are abysmal. In rural regions, violence and land conflicts are ongoing, and human rights defenders suffer threats and attacks. And, while the Brazilian government has made efforts to redress human rights abuses, it has rarely held accountable those responsible for the violations.

The UN Human Rights Council will begin a new review process on April 7, 2008. The Universal Periodic Review (UPR) is the most innovative and ambitious instrument of the council and was set up to assess the human rights performance of all 192 UN member states over a four-year cycle.

A government report on hundreds of political killings and “disappearances” committed under Brazil’s military regime is an important step toward addressing years of official impunity, Human Rights Watch said today. President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva presented the report on Wednesday at a ceremony with victims’ relatives in Brasilia.

I am writing to express our concern regarding the recent repatriation of Guillermo Rigondeaux and Erislandy Lara from Brazil back to their native Cuba. We are very concerned that Brazil did not take sufficient steps to ensure that Rigondeaux and Lara were afforded the legal protections they may have been entitled to as potential refugees. We urge you to investigate whether their rights were adequately protected while they were in Brazil, and to take steps to help ensure that their rights are not violated now that they are back in Cuba.