Heightened alert: impeachment concluded
Conectas reaffirms its commitment to denouncing measures of the Temer government that deepen social inequalities and result in setbacks to human rights
The conclusion of the impeachment trial of suspended President Dilma Rousseff, the result of a process whose political legitimacy and legal conformity are questionable, reinforces concerns over setbacks to the human rights agenda in Brazil.
At the start of the interim government, in May, Conectas spoke out against a number of threats to the Constitution of 1988. Against this new backdrop, we reaffirm our commitment to continue to resist measures that imply any attempt to restrict rights and that amplify social inequalities.
The new government has promised to make profound changes in the country that do not reflect the needs of the most vulnerable population groups. Michel Temer takes office with low political legitimacy and in alliance with forces that, in the National Congress, are causing setbacks in gender, race and sexual orientation equality, labor rights and rights of indigenous and maroon peoples, among other things.
We view with deep concern some of the threats that have been confirmed during the tenure of the interim government, in particular tougher state control and surveillance of dissent. We condemn the violent response by the State to public demonstrations against the impeachment process. The cases of police repression observed this week confirm a modus operandi that has already been widely condemned on account of its disproportionateness, excessive use of force and unconstitutionality. Although the direct responsibility for the military police falls on state governments, there is a clear political discretion over which protests will be met with repression.
In its foreign policy, now led by José Serra, Brazil is also showing signs of changing course towards a commercial pragmatism at the expense of the primacy of human rights, an obligation to which it is constitutionally bound. The new Foreign Minister has spoken disparagingly about the international human rights protection bodies, publicly calling “stupid” and “shoddy” a document drafted by the IACHR (Inter-American Commission on Human Rights of the Organization of American States).
We also view with apprehension what is being called an adjustment in the public finances, but which directly affects the social contract embodied in the Constitution of 1988. One of these measures proposed by the Executive is Constitutional Amendment 241, which freezes investments in health and education for 20 years at the amount set in the 2016 budget, corrected by inflation. The intention to do away with the obligations established in the public budget for this spending is a clear threat to individual and collective rights and guarantees.
Today, more than ever, Conectas stands firm in its commitment to work on the defense and promotion of human rights to build a free, fair and democratic society.
