Shift in the UN

Defending its fiscal adjustment, Brazil votes against independent expert to monitor the impact of economic reforms on human rights

In the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva this morning, March 23, Brazil for the first time voted against the renewal of the mandate of the independent expert on foreign debt and other international financial obligations.

The current independent expert is the Argentine citizen Juan Pablo Bohoslavsky and his responsibilities include monitoring the negative impact of economic measures on social rights and on the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Brazil’s position was defeated: by 31 votes to 16, the resolution renewing the mandate of the expert for three years was approved.

Click here to read the text of the approved resolution.

Click here to see the list of how countries voted.

When justifying the decision, the permanent representative of Brazil to the UN in Geneva, ambassador Maria Nazareth Farani Azevêdo, defended the economic reform agenda of the government of Michel Temer and described the text of the resolution as “imbalanced and partial”.

“[The resolution] runs counter to the core elements of current economic policies in Brazil, particularly our strenuous efforts to regain fiscal balance and thereby preserve and protect social policies in the country,” said the ambassador.

Azevêdo also criticized that the mandate of the independent expert includes the development of guiding principles to assess the negative impact of economic reforms on human rights, arguing that this is the State’s responsibility – even though other independent experts have produced similar documents without drawing opposition from Brazil.

Watch the full statement made by the Brazilian ambassador (starting at the 5:30 minute mark):

According to Camila Lissa Asano, coordinator of the Foreign Policy program at Conectas Human Rights, “the change in the vote should be treated not only as a diplomatic shift, but as a deliberate attempt to prevent the impacts of the economic reforms from being assessed – and potentially criticized – by the UN, in an alarming sign of how the country is likely to conduct itself in the body from now on”.

Brazil stopped serving on the Council at the end of 2015 and assumed a new term in January this year.

“The Temer government knows that the UN experts are critical of the fiscal adjustment measures that have been adopted recently by Brazil, such as Constitutional Amendment 95, which freezes spending on health and education,” said Asano. “With this opposing vote, Brazil attempted to undermine the ability of the UN to monitor the negative impacts that austerity measures have on the social rights of the population.”

In December 2016, the special rapporteur on extreme poverty Philip Alston said that Constitutional Amendment 95 was “radical” and “lacking in compassion”, as well as “incompatible” with the human rights obligations assumed by Brazil.

The rapporteur also pointed out that “international economic studies, including research by the International Monetary Fund, show that fiscal consolidation has the short-term effect of reducing incomes, raising unemployment and increasing income inequality”.

Click here to read 5 questions answered by Conectas on Constitutional Amendment 95.

Click here to read the technical statement prepared by Conectas and partner organizations on the freezing of public spending on health and education.