By Paula Buzzi
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

BRASILIA, Brazil —  Brazil will soon join Argentina, Chile and Uruguay in the list of South American countries that are taking steps to investigate those responsible for the human rights abuses during their respective military regimes. A truth commission bill, which will examine the abuses between 1946 and 1988, was approved by Brazil’s Senate on Wednesday night and now awaits the signature of President Dilma Rousseff in order to become law.

The truth commission bill was drafted by former Brazilian president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva of the Workers Party. Rejection and threats from three force commanders and the Minister of Defense, however, blocked any advancement of the bill during his term.

With strong support from current President Rousseff, the truth commission bill passed the lower house of the Brazilian legislature in September. President Rousseff, a former socialist during her youth, was captured and claimed to have been tortured in jail during the dictatorship. She urged congress to act swiftly on the bill as she believes it is key to Brazilian unity.

In addition to President Rousseff, several other leading figures in Brazil have stated that they were imprisoned and/or tortured during the military regime, including former Presidents Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Fernande Henrique Cardoso, and culture minister and singer Gilberto Gil.

The truth commission bill will consist of seven people appointed by the President to research reported abuses during the military dictatorship, and draw up a final report. Because of a military amnesty law, however, any military official or left-wing guerrilla accused of violence cannot be prosecuted. Despite no trials, Senator Aloysio Nunes believes the commission will help unveil many truths from the dictatorship era.

Approximately 500 Brazilians were captured or killed by the military during their rule between 1964 and 1985. Brazil has never punished those military officials responsible for the murders and human rights abuses.

Senator Randolfe Rodrigues believes this commission is a “timid” one compared to its’ neighboring countries. Other countries in South America, including Argentina and Uruguay, have already sentenced ex-military officials found guilty of human rights abuses during their military dictatorship. Brazil’s truth commission’s purpose, however, is to merely investigate.

For further information, please see:

Washington Post – Brazilian Senate Approve Investigation of Human Rights Abuses During Military Dictatorship – 27 October 2011

BBC News – Brazil Creates Truth Commission to Probe Rights Abuses – 27 October 2011

AFP – Brazil Approves Truth Commission on Rights Abuses – 27 October 2011

Merco Press – Truth Committee in Brazil but With No Review of Past Human Rights’ Crimes – 21 October  2011

by Emilee Gaebler
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America 

BRASÍLIA, Brazil – After 25 years a sentence has finally been handed down in a criminal case involving illegal organ harvesting.  Last Thursday a judge sentenced Doctor Rui Sacramento, Doctor Pedro Torrecillas and Doctor Mariano Fiore Jr. to seventeen years and six months each in prison.

The three doctors were charged with removing kidneys from four patients that were not really dead.  The patients had signed off on being organ donors in the event of their respective deaths.  The victims were patients in the time period from September to December of 1986.  They were incorrectly declared brain dead by neurosurgeon Mariano Fiore Jr. who then authorized the removal of the organs.    

Torrecillas and Sacramento were the doctors who removed the organs and prepared them for transplant.  Following the removal of the organs, the patients did actually die.  Another neurosurgeon, Antonio de Carvalho Monteiro was also accused but died last year.

The organs were harvested at a public hospital and then sent to a private organ transplant facility.  At public hospitals, transplants are free but the waitlists are long.  At the private facilities the organ transplant process can be accelerated for those wealthy enough to pay the price.  For each kidney, it is estimated that US $41,000 was paid.

Two organ recipients testified in the trial that they paid that amount for a kidney transplant at the private facility.  Both noted that they were not informed of where the organ donation was from. 

The case first came to light in December of 1986 when the head Doctor at the University of Taubate’s medical school noticed irregularities in records regarding organ transplants.  He investigated further into the transplants and the team of doctors who performed them then turned the information over to the Federal Council of Medicine.

The state prosecutor on the case, Marcio Friggi de Carvalho said that the victims, “simply did not have the diagnosis of brain death.”

The doctor’s defense attorney, Sergio Salgado Badaro told the jury, “[I]f you convict them, you will be the first jury in the country to convict doctors for killing people who were already dead.” 

When the sentence was handed down, Baldaro noted that he respected the jury’s decision but his clients were going to appeal.  The doctors will be permitted to continue practicing while their appeal is considered.

Family members of the victims present when the sentence was handed down cried and hugged each other.  The decision has long been awaited and Brazilian authorities have termed it extremely complex in order to explain the 25 year wait.  The Brazilian criminal justice system is known to be a slow machine and it is not uncommon for cases to take years or even decades to be decided. 

For more information, please see;

Bio Edge – Brazilian Transplant Doctors Convicted After 25 Years – 22 October 2011

CTV News – Doctors Guilty of Harvesting Organs of Live Patients – 21 October 2011

WHDH News – Brazil Doctors Found Guilty of Killing Patients – 21 October 2011

MSNBC News – Docs Charged For Removing Organs From Live Patients – 17 October 2011

By Paula Buzzi
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

CARACAS, Venezuela – United Nations’ Human Rights Council issued 148 recommendations for Venezuela recently, in part because of the various reports of government human rights abuses towards activists who have publicly criticized government policies. Venezuela, however, has rejected the recommendations despite requests for change from its own allies.

Humberto Prado, 48, an ex-prison inmate turned director and founder of a prison monitoring group, claims he has been fearing for his life ever since he became an activist for prison reform. After criticizing conditions in a prison where inmates rioted in June, Prado began receiving anonymous phone calls at all hours of the night threatening to kill him.

Government officials, however, have ignored his complaints and Prado suspects that they might even be behind the threats. As the harassment intensified and government indifference continued, Amnesty International helped Prado and his family flee to Spain.

Prado is one of many activists who have fallen victim to attacks after President Hugo Chavez took office. Over the last 12 years, 83 activists have been attacked or harassed and 10 have been killed.

Out of the cases involving attacks on activists in Venezuela this year, the Committee of Victims’ Relatives reports that only 13 percent of them are being tried in court while the remaining have been either dismissed or remain in the preliminary investigative stage.

According to the director of the Committee of Victims’ Relatives, Liliana Ortega, various nonprofit groups have been investigated for improper funding after publicly denouncing government policies. Additionally, human rights groups have also reported arbitrary police arrests of activists, illegal wiretapping and restrictions on public meetings.

Last Friday, during the United Nations Periodic Review of Human Rights convention in Geneva, some of Venezuela’s allies, including Brazil, Russia, and Turkey, expressed concern over Venezuela’s criminal procedures, specifically it’s procedural delays, and other human rights issues.

A member of the Venezuela delegation who attended the convention but who wants to remain anonymous was surprised to hear criticism coming from Venezuelan allies. “”The fact that the United States, Britain and Germany questioned the Judiciary was predictable, but Brazil’s criticisms were not,” he said.

The Brazilian delegation expressed concerned about how closely judges and prosecutors work together in criminal proceedings. They called for a more independent judiciary in order to guarantee citizens of Venezuela the essential conditions of a democracy.

For further information, please see:

ABC News – Threats, Violence Rising for Venezuelan Activists – 14 October 2011

El Universal – Even Allies Questioned Venezuela at the UN Human Rights Council – 14 October 2011

CNN – Venezuela Rejects Certain Human Rights Recommendations – 11 October 2011

El Universal – US Asks Venezuela to “Reconsider” Human Rights Suggestions

– 12 October  2011