Strident diplomacy

In response to harsh criticisms by the Foreign Ministry, Brazilian organizations rise to the defense of IACHR and OHCHR

In a statement published this afternoon, May 31, 54 Brazilian human rights organizations described as “extremely serious” and “unwarranted” the Foreign Ministry’s response to the press release issued by the OHCHR (Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights) and the IACHR (Inter-American Commission on Human Rights of the OAS) on May 26.

In the document, the two bodies expressed concern over the police repression of a protest staged in Brasília on May 24. They also mentioned the police violence in rural Brazil, emphasizing the killing of 10 agricultural laborers in the state of Pará and the police operation conducted in the downtown region of São Paulo known as Cracolândia (Crackland).

The Foreign Ministry reacted immediately to the criticisms by issuing a statement in which it “repudiates, in the strongest terms, the uninformed and biased content” of the joint press release and described the position of the two bodies as “superficial” and “fanciful”, in a tone that is unusual for Brazilian diplomacy.

In the statement released today, the human rights organizations defend the IACHR and the Office of the High Commissioner. As far as they are concerned, “the disrespectful and aggressive language used by the Foreign Ministry is far removed from the position one would expect from a country that claims to be committed to the international protection of human rights”.

The organizations also said that, with its response, “the government of Michel Temer has demonstrated a shocking disregard for two of the main international and regional human rights bodies”. “The Federal Constitution of 1988 binds the international relations of the country to the prevalence of human rights and we call on the Foreign Ministry to make an immediate retraction,” they added.

Click here to read the joint press release issued by the IACHR and the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human rights.

Click here to read the statement released by the Foreign Ministry.

Click here to read the statement of condemnation from the human rights organizations.