Federal government sent secret agents to spy on Brazilians at COP25
According to the organizations, this violates the rights enshrined in the United Nations Charter
Dozens of organizations associated with indigenous peoples and the environment published a letter on Tuesday, October 27, condemning the action of the Brazilian government during COP25 (United Nations Conference on Climate Change) that was revealed by the press this week.
The letter, which is addressed to Patricia Espinosa Cantellano, Executive Secretary of the UNFCCC (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change), expresses the surprise of the signatory organizations upon learning, from a newspaper, that the federal government had dispatched four secret agents to monitor the Brazilian delegates at the event.
The reason for the indignation is that the agents violated the security, the freedom of thought and speech, and the immunity assured the representatives of Brazil in the facilities of the UN – a right enshrined in the United Nations Charter.
COP25 took place from December 2 to 13, 2019 in Madrid, Spain, but the case was only revealed in October this year.
According to the organizations, the Brazilian government acted without informing the UNFCCC and they hope to count on the support of the secretariat to ensure that it does not happen again.
Contacted by the press, Augusto Heleno, Brazil’s Institutional Security Minister, who supervises ABIN (National Intelligence Agency), admitted that he sent the agents to monitor “bad Brazilians” and that he will continue to do so in the future.
