National Truth Commission releases final report
One of the hundreds of victims of the dictatorship, President Dilma Rousseff was brought to tears while commenting on the report 
After two years and seven months' work, the National Truth Commission (CNV), created to investigate dictatorship crimes, has published its final report confirming 434 killings and forced disappearances of victims of the military dictatorship (1964-1985) in Brazil. Out of this total, 210 are missing persons.
The document submitted Wednesday (Dec. 10) to President Dilma Rousseff provides proof that serious human rights violations were committed in Brazil during the dictatorship. “The events were described in detail, including systematic illegal arrests and torture, as well as executions, forced disappearances, and the concealment of corpses by public officials,” it read.
Rousseff said the report will help ward off “ghosts from a past filled with grief” and allow Brazilians to learn about the history of human rights violations in the country so that it does not happen again.
Overcome with emotion, Rousseff was brought to tears as she said Brazil deserves to find out the truth about the dictatorship. “Especially those who lost family members and relatives and those who still feel as though they are still dying again and again day after day,” she said with a cracking voice after pausing her speech because of the crying.
More than 300 people, including military and public officials and even former presidents were held accountable for the violations. The document further says the violations resulted from “widespread and systematic action of the Brazilian state,” and that repression was used during the dictatorship as a state policy “emanating from decisions of military presidents and ministries.”
The final report is more than 3,000 pages long and sets forth 29 recommendations falling into three categories. Rousseff thanked and complimented the commission on their efforts and said that the fact that the CNV has completed its task does not mean the investigations are over. She said it is now time for the State to “bend its thoughts” upon the report, “look at the recommendations and proposals and take the appropriate action.” She also mentioned the efforts of other truth commissions at state and sector levels as important contributions to CNV's job.
Luciano José Marinho de Melo, a military man who worked under the Information Center of the Airforce (Cisa), during his speeach to CNV
Recommendations include holding public officials involved accountable and exclude them from the Amnesty Law, as pardon in this case is viewed as "inconsistent with Brazilian law and the international legal order, as such illicit doings, given their scale, are crimes against humanity and therefore not subject to amnesty."
CNV also recommends the creation of a permanent body to act on its actions and advice. The commission further argues for the dissociation of forensic institutes and related agencies from public security secretariats and local civil police bodies, and the elimination of the legal mechanism which allows government officials to act, sometimes violently, against those who show resistance to their arrest.
The National Truth Commission was put together in 2012 and will be dissolved on December 16.
Translated by Mayra Borges / Fabrício Ferreira
Fonte: National Truth Commission releases final report
