Latin America

‘Abrogate amnesty for Brazil junta’

389714_Brazil-Military-Victim

A Brazilian truth commission has called on the government to abrogate amnesty for the perpetrators of murder and torture during the junta’s rule in the South American country.

“Repression and the elimination of political opposition became the policy of the state,” read the report issued by the Brazilian National Truth Commission on Wednesday, adding that they were the “systematic” practices by the junta.

The commission “therefore totally rejects the explanation offered up till today that the serious violations of human rights constituted a few isolated acts or excesses resulting from the zeal of a few soldiers,” the report stated.

The 2,000-page report documents 224 murders, 210 disappearances, and thousands of torture cases, and named 377 people allegedly accountable for the heinous crimes.

However, the number of victims is certainly much more as these are only the cases that could be verified by the commission, the report stressed.

The director of Amnesty International Brazil has welcomed the report, saying it “paves the way to ensure the Amnesty Law will not be an obstacle to investigating these crimes.”

“Fifty years after the coup that set up the authoritarian regime, it’s vital that Brazil brings to justice those responsible for the serious human rights violations of the past,” said Atila Roque.

A law passed by the ruling junta in 1979 has granted amnesty to the military figures serving in the 1964-1985 dictatorship. The amnesty law was upheld by Brazil’s Supreme Court in 2010.

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