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.
The government’s 500-page report, titled “The Right to Memory and Truth,” is the result of an 11-year investigation by the national Commission on Political Deaths and Disappearances, which was established in 1995, during the presidency of Fernando Henrique Cardoso, to determine the fate of government opponents who were killed or “disappeared” by state security forces between 1961 and 1988.
“Brazil has finally released a comprehensive account of the brutal methods that its military regime used to dispose of political opponents,” said José Miguel Vivanco, Americas director at Human Rights Watch. “Yet significant aspects of this dark history still need to be clarified.”
According to the report, the Brazilian armed forces have never opened key archives from the period of military rule (1964-1985). As a result, the commission was unable to clarify important aspects of these crimes, including the whereabouts of the majority of the “disappeared” victims.
The commission analyzed reparation claims by victims’ families, investigated the circumstances of each of the alleged deaths and disappearances. Reparations were granted in 356 cases.
Unlike other countries that endured abusive military regimes, such as Argentina and Chile, Brazil has never prosecuted those responsible for past atrocities. An amnesty law passed in 1979 pardoned both government agents and members of armed political groups who had committed abuses.
“The Brazilian government has made real progress in establishing the truth and providing reparations to victims’ families,” said Vivanco. “What it still needs to provide is justice by prosecuting those responsible for these heinous crimes.”
