Brazil's Tearful President Praises Report On Abuses Of A Dictatorship
Brazil's national truth commission on Wednesday delivered a damning report looking at the abuses committed during that country's military dictatorship, which lasted from 1964 to 1985.
The 2,000-page document details for the first time a history of arbitrary detention, torture, executions and disappearances.
Until now, Brazil has sought to bury its difficult past.
President Dilma Rousseff, who was herself tortured during Brazil's dictatorship period, broke down when she addressed the nation Wednesday. She said the report had fulfilled three important objectives.
She described it as a search for a fact-based truth, a respect to the historic memory of what happened and, because of that, a reconciliation for the country.
Missing from her speech, though, was the word "justice." And it was noted by other victims of the regime.
Unlike Chile and Argentina, where senior military and political figures have been punished for their role in human rights abuses in that period, Brazil has never dealt with what happened during the military dictatorship.
The generals running the country at the time enacted an amnesty law in 1979 giving them immunity from prosecution. And there has been little political appetite to change the status quo.
But for Maria Amelia Teles, a victim of torture during that brutal era, the report itself is not enough.
Maria Amelia Teles (left) sits with her husband Cesar Teles and their two children in Sao Paulo in the 1970s. She was tortured; her children were brought in to see her after she was beaten. She is calling for the amnesty law, which protects those responsible, to be revoked.
"I was tortured, my children were taken to the cell where I was naked, covered in vomit and urine, and beaten up. They were 4 and 5 years old," she recalls. "And they asked me, 'Mama, why are you blue?' I looked down at my body and it was covered in bruises."
Her husband and her pregnant sister were also tortured, and a member of her political party was killed in front of her.
She knows exactly who was responsible for what happened to her. In fact, the report released Wednesday has his name among 377 individuals who were responsible for human rights violations.
But he is still a free man. The family has had to sue him privately. The case is winding through the courts.
In Brazil, the burden of proof has fallen until now completely on us, the victims, she says.
"The amnesty law needs to be revoked," Teles says. "It is a national embarrassment. It places Brazil as a champion of impunity."
Maria Laura Canineu, Brazil director for Human Rights Watch, says the report is an important first step.
"It's very significant," she says. "It's overdue, more than 30 years after the dictatorship ended and they were only able to do that now."
But she warns Brazil has to deal with its past. She says the reason Brazil is such a violent country today, where torture and human rights abuses by the security services persist, is partly because no one has had to face justice for the crimes committed during that brutal period of repression.
"The sense of impunity is present until now within the security forces in Brazil," Canineu says. "Impunity is what links the past and the present and it's what we have to fight against."
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Transcript
ROBERT SIEGEL, HOST:
In Brazil, a national truth commission has just delivered a damning report looking at the abuses committed during that country's military dictatorship. It lasted from 1964 to 1985. The 2000-page document details for the first time a history of arbitrary detention, torture, executions and disappearances. NPR's Lourdes Garcia-Navarro reports from Sao Paulo that until now, Brazil has sought to bury its difficult past. And we'll note that this story contains a graphic account of torture.
LOURDES GARCIA-NAVARRO, BYLINE: Presidenct Dilma Rousseff who was herself tortured during Brazil's dictatorship did broke down when she addressed the nation today. She said the report had fulfilled three important objectives.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
PRESIDENT DILMA ROUSSEFF: (Speaking Portuguese).
GARCIA-NAVARRO: The search for a fact-based truth, a respect to the historic memory of what happened and, because of that, a reconciliation for the country, she said.
Missing from her speech, though, was the word justice. And it was noted by the victims of the regime. Unlike Chile and Argentina where senior military and political figures have been punished for their role in human rights abuses in that period, Brazil has never dealt with what happened during the military dictatorship here. The generals running the country put in place an amnesty law in 1979 giving immunity from prosecution, and there has been little political appetite to change the status quo. But for torture victim Maria Amelia Teles, the report itself is not enough. Warning - her account is graphic.
MARIA AMELIA TELES: (Speaking Portuguese).
GARCIA-NAVARRO: (Translating) I was tortured. My children were taken to the cell where I was naked, covered in vomit and urine and beaten up. They were 4 and 5 years old and they asked me, mama, why are you blue? I looked down at my body, and it was covered in bruises, she says.
Her husband and her pregnant sister were also tortured, and a member of her political party was killed in front of her. She knows exactly who was responsible for what happened to her. In fact, the report released today has his name among 377 individuals who were responsible for human rights violations, but he is still a free man. The family has had to sue him privately. The case is winding through the courts.
TELES: (Speaking Portuguese).
GARCIA-NAVARRO: In Brazil, the burden of proof has fallen, until now, completely on us, the victims, she says.
TELES: (Speaking Portuguese).
GARCIA-NAVARRO: The amnesty law needs to be revoked, she adds. It's a national embarrassment. It places Brazil as a champion of impunity. Human Rights Watch director Maria Laura Canineu says the report is an important first step.
MARIA LAURA CANINEU: It's very significant. It's - it took a long time. It's overdue. More than 30 years after the dictatorship ended, and they were only able to do that now.
GARCIA-NAVARRO: But, she warns, Brazil has to deal with its past. She says the reason Brazil is such a violent country today where torture and human rights abuses by the security services persist is partly because no one has had to face justice for the crimes committed during that brutal period of repression.
CANINEU: The sense of impunity is present until now within the security forces in Brazil. So impunity is what links the past and the present, and this is what we have to fight against.
GARCIA-NAVARRO: Lourdes Garcia-Navarro, NPR News, Sao Paulo. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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