Wrong path

UN criticizes São Paulo court for suspending decision on protests

The UN special rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association, Maina Kiai, today criticized the decision of the TJ-SP (São Paulo State Court of Appeals) to suspend a trial court ruling that limited the use of less-lethal weapons at protests and that required the military police to develop a plan of action for policing demonstrations.

In a letter addressed to Judge Paulo Dimas de Bellis Mascaretti, president of the court, the expert said he was “disappointed” to learn of the suspension. “I had drafted a letter welcoming the approach taken by the court to ask the responsible authorities to develop a police plan for action at demonstrations. Unfortunately, the decision was suspended before the letter could be dispatched,” reads the document. He also said the initial decision was important for guaranteeing the right to protest in Brazil.

“While I have general reservations on the role to play by military police instead of civil authorities in the management of assemblies in Brazil, I believe that a plan of action would indeed substantially improve the management of assemblies and in that way better protect public interests, security and facilitate police activities,” he said.

• Click here to read the press release and the letter sent to the president of the court.

Suspension

The decision to suspend the sentence was made on Monday, November 7. From the date of its publication – which has not yet occurred – the Public Defender’s Office, the petitioner in the case, will have five days to appeal.

According to Henrique Apolinario, a lawyer for the Justice program at Conectas, the mechanism used to suspend the sentence “is extremely exceptional and may only be used in cases of blatant violation of the public interest”. The mechanism is provided for in ordinary law from 1992 (Law No. 8,437/92) on the granting of precautionary measures against acts of state.

When the appeal is filed, the suspension will be judged by a Special Court of the TJ-SP formed by 25 appellate judges – among them the president Mascaretti himself.

“The letter from the UN is yet more evidence that the TJ-SP and the São Paulo state government is out of step with best international practices. The letter from the expert reiterates the importance of transparency and the need for a plan of action for the police. It is a basic minimum that the São Paulo authorities continue to deny the population, in clear violation of the commitments made by Brazil in the United Nations,” said Apolinario.

“Evidence that the police is out of control is public and well-known, and the suspension of the sentence sends a message that the abuses are and will continue to be tolerated, which is unacceptable,” he concluded.