Pressure senators
Senate to vote in coming weeks on bill that transfers trials of military personnel who commit willful crimes against civilians to military courts
The Foreign Relations and National Defense Committee of the Senate will vote in the coming weeks on Lower House Bill 44/2016 that transfers trials of military personnel who commit willful crimes against civilians to military courts. A petition launched this Friday, August 18, by the organizations Meu Rio and Conectas is intended to pressure senators to vote against the bill.
If approved, the trial of willful crimes committed by military personnel will become the responsibility of the military justice system, which consists primarily of active duty personnel who report to higher-ranking officers and who do not require legal training. This type of trial is biased, since the jury is made up of peers and is not therefore impartial. Keeping a civilian jury in these cases will ensure more social control and transparency in the rulings.
The origin of this bill dates back to the Rio Olympics. In July 2016, the text drafted by Congressman Esperidião Amin was approved in the Lower House on the same day it was presented. The bill proposes to alter the Military Criminal Code and remove from the jurisdiction of civilian courts “willful crimes against life committed by Armed Forces personnel against civilians” when they occur in the “performance of duties established by the President of the Republic or by the Minister of Defense”. This includes the operations to guarantee law and order currently underway in Rio de Janeiro.
The report by Senator Pedro Chaves, which was debated in the Committee on Thursday, August 17, does not set a time limit for the alteration of the Military Criminal Code like the previous version referred by the Lower House. The president of the Committee, Fernando Collor, accepted the request for an adjournment made by senators Jorge Viana and Roberto Requião. No new date has yet been set to discuss Bill 44/2016.
“The Military Justice System has its own legal jurisdiction that is based on laws established by the Military Criminal Code. Both deal with crimes related to the activities of the Armed Forces. Therefore, judging crimes committed against civilians in this jurisdiction is a disproportionate way of protecting the military and it gives Army personnel carte blanche to commit violations when on public security duty,” explained Rafael Custódio, coordinator of the Justice program at Conectas Human Rights.
- Read (in Portuguese) a technical note from the Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office (PFDC), on the unconstitutionality of PLC 44/16.
