CONTROVERSY OVER BRAZIL,S AMNESTY LAW INFLAMES OLD

UNCLAS BRASILIA 001120

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: BR MARR PGOV PHUM
SUBJECT: CONTROVERSY OVER BRAZIL,S AMNESTY LAW INFLAMES OLD
TENSIONS


1. (U) On August 31, Brazilian Justice Mininster Tarso
Genro called for prosecution of members of the Brazilian
military involved with violations of human rights, including
torture, during Brazil,s 1964-85 military government. This
would call for a revision of the 1979 law on amnesty which
halted prosecutions of "crimes of state." Tarso received
strong support form Brazil,s human rights and academic
communities which cite international conventions defining
torture as a crime against humanity. As such, argue those
favoring revision of the law, it would fall outside the
definition of crimes of state covered by the amnesty law.


2. (U) Minister Tarso,s statement has elicited a strong
response from Brazil,s military community. Several high
ranking officers, including the President of the Military
Club General Gilberto Figueiredo, have called for the Justice
Ministry to focus on other matters, including possible
prosecutions for anti-government violence during the period
of military rule. Groups perpetrating such violence gave a
start in politics to several prominent members of the Lula
government, including the President,s Chief of Staff, Dilma
Rouseff. Defense Minister Jobim, former head of the Supreme
Court, urged a reasonable approach saying that the question
of crimes under military rule was a matter for the judiciary,
not the administration. On August 12, President Lula gave
his support to Jobim,s view and declared that the matter was
"closed." Despite the President,s statement, several
members of Lula,s Workers, Party and other human rights
advocates have publicly committed to pursuing revision of the
amnesty law.


3. (SBU) Comment: While efforts to seek justice (or
political retribution, depending on one,s politics) for
actions of the military government are not new in Brazil,
this year,s controversy has provoked stronger reactions than
in the past. With the military beginning to emerge from over
two decades of unpopularity and neglect, its leaders wish to
avoid reopening old wounds. One Brazilian air force officer
cornered a DAO member and spent forty minutes telling him how
counterproductive changing amnesty would be. At the same
time, former opponents to military rule, some of whom occupy
key government posts, may see the final two years of the Lula
government as their last best chance to seek convictions of
former military members. The choice of human rights groups
to highlight accusations of torture, a clear violation of
international human rights standards, gives them a legal
basis to attack the amnesty. The courts, however, are taking
a careful approach. Supreme Court President Mendes cautioned
that cases regarding military governments have been a source
"of much long term instability" in other countries. With
President Lula supporting Jobim,s view that "the past is
past," the amnesty controversy has disappeared from the
headlines for now, but the strong feelings the period of
military rule evokes on both sides remain. The issue may
well flare up again.
SOBEL