Brazil investigates Volkswagen collaboration with dictatorship

Brazilian federal prosecutors are conducting an unprecedented investigation in the country on German auto company Volkswagen for its alleged collaboration with the military rule in Brazil (1964-1985) and incidents of human rights violations.

According to Prosecutor Pedro Machado, in charge of the case, previous probes centered on government agents or the government itself, not privately owned firms, so he describes the case as a landmark in the history of Brazilian courts in the subject of memory and truth.

“It's a difficult issue that requires more careful consideration by the authorities. There's one thing we have to face: the statute of limitation. For the Superior Court of Justice, no limitation applies to the state, but when it comes to a private entity, it's unprecedented. There is no other case, so we don't know how court authorities are going to behave,” he said.

In its defense, the auto giant produced a report showing the results of an internal probe conducted by historian Christopher Kopper at the request of the Volkswagen headquarters. The carmaker argues it cannot be held accountable for any wrongdoing as no documented evidence can be found of collaboration.

The documents submitted by the company's industrial security department to the political police during the military period in Brazil are therefore believed to be part of a personal initiative taken by sector head, former Army Official Ademar Rudge.

Collaboration

The civil inquiry into Volkswagen was initiated after a motion was penned by Brazilian union centers, trade unions, and former employees from Volkswagen in September, 2015.

The request was based on the conclusions by the National Truth Commission, a group instituted by the Brazilian Congress to investigate into crimes perpetrated during the military dictatorship period. Commission investigators believe there is evidence that the company collaborated with the repression and discrimination of workers active as union members.

Another report on the topic was drawn up by Guaracy Mingardi, an expert hired by the Prosecution Service. By gaining access to the São Paulo State Department for Political and Social Order, he found, for instance, communications made by the company's industrial security sector at the time.

Among the acts brought under investigation are allowing the imprisonment of employees inside its units, persecuting workers for their political and union involvement through the creation of blacklists to prevent such individuals from being given jobs, producing information and submitting it to repression agencies, and financially collaborating with the regime as well as allowing torture practices to be perpetrated at its headquarters.

Pedro Machado announced that the Brazilian Foreign Ministry has requested new inquiries, some of which aided by German prosecutors. Machado said the appropriate measure will be taken after the data are gathered.

Translated by Fabrício Ferreira