Persisting torture a continuation of Brazil's authoritarian past

Although the Brazilian Constitution enacted in 1988 has banned torture, and Brazil is party to the United Nations conventions against the practice, it still persists in the country, says Flávia Piovesan, Special Secretary on Human Rights. She extolled the National Mechanism for Preventing and Combating Torture in Brazil, which consists of 11 experts who investigate locations where the practice is found, and draft reports on the case.

On the International Day in Support of Victims of Torture, observed on June 26 by the United Nations, Piovesan also advocated a redress policy for victims. “Torture persists in Brazil as a continuation of our authoritarian past. We must strengthen public policy to prevent, combat, and eradicate it,” said the secretary, who was elected to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) of the Organization of American States (OAS).

Federal Prosecutor Sérgio Suiama says that while Brazil's Constitution was an important milestone for Brazil's democracy after the military dictatorship, torture, a widespread practice used by the Brazilian State during the dictatorship, “has not been eradicated”, and this is largely due to the impunity of torturers. He said the Brazilian State was sentenced by the IACHR to investigate and seek legal remedies against perpetrators of human rights violations during the dictatorship—including the forced disappearance of members of Araguaia guerrilla group—, but the terms of the sentence have not been fully observed. According to Suiama, who is a member of Transitional Justice Work Group of the Prosecution Service, a lack of awareness of the problem in Brazil makes it difficult to stop the problem.

“At police stations, under provisional sentences, at prisons, out on the street... Torture is widespread. Failure to punish present or past violations has encouraged perpetrators to go on,” he said.

Isabel Lima, a researcher and corporate coordinator for Public Security at NGO Justiça Global, pointed out torture victimizes inmates in incarceration places including prisons and juvenile detention centers, but also the elderly in nursing homes, psychiatric hospitals, street populations, and the LGBT community, particularly transgender people. “Torture is a structural problem, it's not about single cases or perpetrators. It's an institutionalized practice,” the researcher said.

Translated by Mayra Borges