This Thursday (5th), the STJ issues a ruling on a lawsuit that may recognize the Crimes of May 2006 as severe human rights violations
Deaths that took place at the Baixada Santista region could no longer be subject to the statute of limitations
Residents protest against a police raid that killed 14 people in Guaruja, some 90 km from Sao Paulo, Brazil, on August 2, 2023. (Photo by Allison Sales / AFP)
This Thursday (5th), starting at 02:00 p.m., the Superior Court of Justice (STJ) will resume its judgment of the special appeal (Special Appeal no. 2172497/SP) referring to a Public Civil Lawsuit filed by the São Paulo State Attorney’s Office (MP-SP) to recognize the Crimes of May 2006 as severe human rights violations, consequently decreeing the elimination of the statute of limitations for the purpose of civil liability and adoption of non-repeat measures. The appeal was discussed in November 2025 but taken out of the docket by Justice Marco Aurélio Bellizze.
“Crimes of May” is the name given to the massacre perpetrated at the Baixada Santista, in the state of São Paulo, between May 12 and 21, 2006, in which over 564 people were murdered, leaving another 110 people injured and at least four forced disappearances. The Special Appeal under discussion at the STJ was filed by the São Paulo Public Defender’s Office and is monitored by Conectas and the Independent Movement Mães de Maio as amici curiae.
Even after nearly 20 years of a tireless struggle by the victims’ families and social movements for justice and reparations, the State was not duly held accountable for the crimes that were perpetrated, as well as for the omissions and flaws in the investigation of the summary executions and forced disappearances caused. The mothers that lost their children remain without answers and without any kind of medical, psychosocial and economic assistance.
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The lawsuit was filed by the Social Inclusion Division of the São Paulo State Attorney’s Office, acknowledging the seriousness of the failure by the state in holding law enforcement officers accountable and protecting the most relevant legal assets, such as life and physical integrity, demanding individual compensation to the victims’ families – moral and material – and collective compensation, in addition to fulfilling an obligation to perform that consists in meeting the requirements of Truth and Justice, under the framework of Transition Justice.
The recognition of the Crimes of May as severe human rights violations is based on the very constitutional structure of protecting human dignity, which does not establish a statute of limitations for said protection. Said recognition is also based on the understanding of international treaties and conventions of which Brazil is a signatory, such as the American Convention on Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, as well as consolidated case law of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (I/A Court HR). With this character secured, there is a permanent obligation of holding the Brazilian State accountable, along with the officers involved in the deaths. Likewise, the victims’ families can thus maintain their right to reparations and compensation.
