Amnesty International condemns statement by Brazil Army commandant
NGO Amnesty International this Wednesday (Apr. 4) condemned the statement made by Brazilian Army Commandant General Eduardo Villa Bôas, released yesterday evening (3) on Twitter “deploring impunity.” The message was referred to as a serious affront to democracy.
“The statement made by the general is a serious affront to the independence of government branches, to the due legal process, a threat to the rule of law, and signals a deviation in the role of Brazil’s Armed Forces,” the note made public by Amnesty International reads.
The commandant’s tweets sparked controversy as they were posted a day before the trial on former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s habeas corpus petition by the country’s Supreme Court.
The NGO said it had already expressed concerns regarding the use of the Armed Forces in public security policy making through the so-called Guarantee of Law and Order operations and the decree implementing a federal intervention in Rio de Janeiro’s public security system. Amnesty International criticizes transferring to military authorities the trial of crimes committed against civilians during the Guarantee of Law and Order operations.
This morning, Extraordinary Minister for Public Security Raul Jungmann said that Villas Bôas’s words come in defense of the institutional role of the Armed forces, the observation of the law, and serenity.
A note was also released by the Air Force Command, signed by Air Lieutenant-Brigadeer Nivaldo Luiz Rossato, in which he argues that members of the Armed Forces should have confidence in the instituted powers, and not let themselves be carried away and “place personal convictions above those of the institutions.”
Brazil’s National Association of Prosecutors (ANPR) also expressed “concern with public messages from officials in the Brazilian Armed Forces, as they can be miscomprehended and inadvertently instigate action by political parties in portions of the population.”
Translated by Fabrício Ferreira
Fonte: Amnesty International condemns statement by Brazil Army commandant
