The Brazilian authorities must investigate those who incited, financed or committed acts of violence to challenge the result of the presidential elections in Brazil, Human Rights Watch (HRW) defended this Thursday.
The human rights organization denounced acts perpetrated by people and organizations that did not recognize the presidential election in Brazil in a statement issued with its 2023 world report, which resulted in an attack on democratic institutions in Brasilia, on January 8, 2023, when Congress, the Planalto Palace and the headquarters of the Federal Supreme Court (STF) were invaded and vandalized by supporters of former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro.
“The January 8 attack on the democratic institutions of Brazil was not an isolated episode, but the result of a series of offensives against the democratic system during the four years that Jair Bolsonaro was president,” said Maria Laura Canineu, director of Human Rights Watch in Brazil.
Speaking to Lusa in London, Tirana Hassan, interim director general of the organization, considered that the country is currently experiencing a crisis, but there is a real opportunity for the new Brazilian president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, “to show that Brazil is robust democracy that it wants to be, ensuring that its institutions, the courts, the police are in place to be able to investigate the scandalous riots and attacks on institutions that have taken place in recent days and that will be a fundamental test for the Government”.
“There must be a proper investigation into what happened, but not just into who committed acts of violence and vandalism, but also who organized them and who financed them. And this offers a real opportunity for President Lula da Silva, on the fly “. forward, to really strengthen the pillars of democracy, and not go back on mass arrests or whatever,” he said.
“But, more importantly, President Lula carried out his campaign in which he showed that he prioritizes key human rights issues, including the right to a healthy environment and analyzing how Brazil can be an actor in the fight against climate change. and the protection of indigenous rights,” he added. Tyrana Hasan.
The acting director also mentioned that the commitments made in the campaign must not be superficial and empty, and Lula da Silva needs to show that there will be real change in all these areas, including adequate funding for environmental protection agencies in the Amazon.
In HRW’s 712-page World Report 2023, in its 33rd edition, the organization analyzed human rights practices in around 100 countries and, right at the beginning of the chapter on Brazil, listed the problems caused by political violence. , emphasizing that “throughout his term, former President Jair Bolsonaro attacked and insulted ministers of the Federal Supreme Court (STF) and journalists” and “attempted to undermine confidence in the electoral system with unfounded allegations of electoral fraud. Political violence increased during the electoral period.
The observation of the violation of human rights and the practice of political violence, which opens the analysis of the South American country, includes criticism of the apology of the abusive military dictatorship in Brazil in the Government of Bolsonaro and a “campaign of insults and intimidation against ministers of the Federal Supreme Court and tried to undermine confidence in the electoral system by disseminating unsubstantiated allegations of electoral fraud”.
“Political violence marked the electoral dispute. Four people were killed during the electoral campaign in circumstances that suggest a political motivation,” HRW defended.
“The Political and Electoral Violence Observatory of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro compiled 426 cases of threats and violence against political leaders -or their relatives- between January and September 2022. Candidates, especially black and transgender women, suffered threats and online harassment, according to civil society organizations,” he added.
The organization also highlighted that flawed and inadequately enforced policies by social media platforms allowed the spread of electoral misinformation leading up to and during the presidential campaign.
According to HRW, the new Brazilian government must face other problems related to the fulfillment of human rights that have worsened during the Bolsonaro presidency, such as food insecurity and inequality, environmental destruction, police violence, restrictions on rights sexual and reproductive and structural racism.
“Brazil is among the countries with the highest income inequality in the world. Improving access to quality public education is one means to reduce it. Brazil’s new Minister of Education must lead a national effort to reverse learning losses over the Covid-19 pandemic, especially for black and indigenous children and those from low-income families,” HRW said.
“Lula’s government needs to immediately implement a comprehensive plan to reverse the rampant destruction of the Amazon, including by restoring the capacity of agencies tasked with protecting the environment and the rights of indigenous peoples,” he added.
In the report, HRW noted that “the Bolsonaro government has severely weakened environmental law enforcement, in practice fostering criminal networks that drive deforestation and that have used threats and violence against forest defenders” and “adopted policies that facilitated the invasion of indigenous lands”.
The number of cases of land invasions, logging, illegal mining, illegal hunting and fishing on indigenous lands was 180% higher in 2021 than in 2018, the year before former President Bolsonaro took office, according to the Missionary Indigenous Council ( CIMI), an organization linked to the Catholic Church.
Thus, HRW argued that the new Brazilian government should strengthen the national program to protect human rights defenders and environmentalists, and work with regional authorities and the Public Ministry to guarantee the accountability of those involved in cases of violence and intimidation. Against them.
“The very high levels of gender-based violence, including against LGBT+ people, is another fundamental chronic challenge for human rights. The Lula government should sufficiently finance assistance services for survivors and reduce obstacles to accessing justice, including through police training and protocols to respond to gender-based violence,” concluded HRW.
Source: TSF
