End of the deadlock

Council of the São Paulo Public Prosecutor’s Office rules that State Attorney General will decide which body will oversee police action at protests

The Higher Council of the MP-SP (São Paulo Public Prosecutor’s Office) ruled at a meeting held this Tuesday, August 9, that the São Paulo State Attorney General, Gianpaolo Smanio, will decide which body of the Public Prosecutor’s Office will be responsible for overseeing police action at protests.

The decision was unanimous and based on a representation submitted in February by six human rights organizations that, given the lack of investigation into abuses committed at demonstrations, questioned the effectiveness of the MP-SP’s oversight of the police – a duty established by the Constitution and by state law.

The representation was submitted by Conectas, Article 19, IBCCrim (Brazilian Criminal Sciences Institute), the Human Rights Commission of the São Paulo Union of Lawyers and the Human Rights Center and Ombuds Office of the São Paulo Public Defender’s Office.

First received in February by the then São Paulo State Attorney General, Marcio Elias Rosa, the document was forwarded to Gecep (Police Activity Special External Oversight Group), which determined that it should be shelved. Its argument was that another similar case was under analysis by the Human Rights Prosecutor’s Office – which, in turn, had already claimed that it only had a limited role in this matter since it was not responsible for the external oversight of police activity.

The decision of the Higher Council of the MP-SP comes in response to an appeal filed by the signatory organizations of the representation questioning the outcome given by Gecep. The organizations also submitted a memorial to revive the case and to reinforce the arguments presented at the start of the year.