Crimes of May: IACHR receives another claim against the Brazilian state

A claim made by the São Paulo Public Defender´s Office calling for Brazil to take responsibility for nine deaths in the Baixada Santista and three massacres in 2006, has been received by the Organisation of American States

Dona Débora, leader of the Mothers of May Movement, in an interview with Conectas on the Crimes of May.

The IACHR (Inter-American Commission on Human Rights of the Organisation of American States) is to investigate and judge the Brazilian state for human rights violations and omissions in the 2006 May Crimes. This is the second case the Commission has accepted regarding the massacre. The first was made in 2009 by Conectas and family members of some of the victims and it is nearing conclusion. 

The recent decision was in response to an appeal lodged in 2015, by the Public Defender´s Office of the State of São Paulo and the May Mothers Movement, concerning the execution of nine people in the Baixada Santista, including a pregnant woman. The cases have never been properly clarified by public authorities.

Fifteen years ago, during Mothers´ Day celebrations, the outskirts of São Paulo became the stage of an unprecedented wave of terror and violence. More than 500 people, mostly young black people, were executed between 12 and 21 May 2006, in an episode that has come to be known as the May Crimes. Most of the victims were killed at point blank range by death squads – hooded men, who were heavily armed, in vehicles without licence plates. 

For further reading:

• Crimes of May: impunity marks 15 years since one of the biggest massacres in São Paulo
• At the OAS, organisations denounce 15 years since the disappearance of the Crimes of May victims

The IACHR consider that the factors presented by the Public Defender´s Office “indicate that over 15 years after the deaths, the crimes have still not been solved”. The Commission has therefore decided that the allegations made will be assessed, as they point to “violations of protected rights”.

The Federal Attorney General, who represents the Brazilian government, has 60 days to respond. Then, the São Paulo Public Defender´s Office will speak and the IACHR will take a decision.

May Crimes and the OAS

In addition to the appeal in 2015, civil society organisations and the May Mothers Movement have turned to the IACHR on two other occasions.

In 2009, Conectas and families of some of the victims lodged a claim alleging that the Brazilian state had violated the American Convention on Human Rights, ratified by the country in 1992. This claim moved to the final phase in 2019 and is nearing conclusion at the IACHR.

In May 2021, the May Mothers Movement, the Public Defender´s Office and Conectas presented a further claim regarding the people who disappeared during the same period, calling on the IACHR to recognise the Brazilian state´s international responsibility in its violation of the American Convention on Human Rights regarding the Forced Disappearance of People and recommended that Brazil should investigate the officers involved in the human rights violations committed during the incidents and hold them accountable.

Watch an animated short film covering the 15 years of the May Crimes