{"id":34047,"date":"2021-10-07T18:31:13","date_gmt":"2021-10-07T18:31:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/conectas.org\/?post_type=litigiopt&#038;p=34047"},"modified":"2021-11-17T17:16:58","modified_gmt":"2021-11-17T17:16:58","slug":"adi-5901-the-jurisdiction-of-military-courts","status":"publish","type":"litigiopt","link":"https:\/\/conectas.org\/en\/litigiopt\/adi-5901-the-jurisdiction-of-military-courts\/","title":{"rendered":"ADI 5901: the jurisdiction of Military Courts"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"tts_content_wrapper_1\" ><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Until 2017, complaints against military personnel were investigated by both the Military Justice and the Civilian Justice systems. In that year, however, the then president Michel Temer signed Law 13,491\/2017 that amended provisions of the Military Code that transferred to the Military Justice system alone the authority to investigate and judge military personnel, removing from the Civil Police the authority to conduct investigations into federal military officials who kill civilians during operations to keep the peace and guarantee law and order, among other similar activities.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In practice \u2013 in addition to violating the Federal Constitution and international obligations assumed by Brazil \u2013 the law benefits the military and creates a kind of safe conduct so soldiers are not held accountable for the excesses they may commit. In view of this, the ADI (Direct Action of Unconstitutionality) No. 5901 filed by the PSOL (Socialism and Liberty Party) in the Supreme Court challenges this authority assigned to the Military Justice system.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As such, ADI 5901 aims to prevent Military Justice from becoming a system detached from society, with dynamics and rules that do not apply to the population and other civil legal institutions. Making the methods in which it operates more transparent is one way to ensure that human rights are respected.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In a request for amicus curiae in the ADI Case 5901, Conectas and the Allard K. Lowenstein International Human Rights Clinic at Yale Law School said that the lack of impartiality and independence \u201cprevents access to justice and facilitates impunity in cases of human rights violations\u201d. The organizations also said that \u201cStates that do not limit military jurisdiction to crimes of a strictly military nature often tolerate or cover up human rights violations committed by the armed forces\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The experts Masha Lisitsyna, a human rights lawyer specialized in international litigation, and Eugene R. Fidell, adjunct professor at New York University Law School and senior researcher at Yale Law School, also helped craft the document requesting amicus curiae status in the case.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">ADI 5901 seeks to prevent Military Justice from becoming a system practically detached from society, with dynamics and rules that do not apply to the population and other civil legal institutions. Making the methods in which it operates more transparent is one way to ensure that human rights are included in the debate and respected.<\/span><\/p>\n<hr>\n<h2><b>Technical information<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li aria-level=\"1\">\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>Case:<\/strong> ADI 5901<\/span><\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><b>Court:&nbsp;<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Supreme Court<\/span><\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><b>Status:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">&nbsp;Awaiting analysis<\/span><\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><b>Procedure:<\/b>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"3\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">02\/26\/2018 \u2013 case filed, for prevention (motivated by ADI 5804), to Justice Gilmar Mendes;<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"3\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">03\/02\/2018 \u2013 procedure adopted of article 12 of Law No. 9,868\/1999 (shortened procedure due to the relevance of the matter and the imminent risk to the rights involved);<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"3\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">06\/25\/2018 \u2013 report of the Office of the Prosecutor-General for the recognition of the case and for its partial acceptance, and with a request for an amendment to the initial petition, so that it also recognizes the unconstitutionality of the sole paragraph of article 9 of the Military Criminal Code, in the wording given by Law No. 12,432\/2011, preceding Law No. 13,491\/2017, challenged in ADI 5901;<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"3\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">06\/29\/2018 \u2013 Brazilian Criminal Sciences Institute (IBCCRIM) and Rio Grande do Sul State Association of Judges (AJURIS) admitted as amicus curiae;<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"3\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">11\/21\/2019 \u2013 Military Public Prosecutor\u2019s Office and Rio de Janeiro State Public Defender\u2019s Office admitted as amicus curiae;<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"3\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">02\/01\/2021 \u2013 Human Rights Institute of the International Bar Association (IBAHRI) requests admission as amicus curiae;<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"3\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">06\/26\/2021 \u2013 On International Day in Support of Victims of Torture, Conectas requests admission as amicus curiae;<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"3\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">06\/27\/2021 \u2013 Records of the case concluded and sent to Justice Gilmar Mendes for his assessment of the amicus curiae requests and the report of the Office of the Prosecutor-General.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none;\">&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div><div class=\"tts__custom-position_bottom_fixed\" ><\/div>","protected":false},"featured_media":25920,"menu_order":0,"template":"","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0},"temaltigio":[12276],"categoria_litigio":[],"class_list":["post-34047","litigiopt","type-litigiopt","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","temaltigio-confronting-institutional-violence"],"acf":{"subtitle-pt":"Armed Forces justice system should not be allowed to judge military personnel who threaten the life of civilians","links_para_referencia":[{"titulo-referencia":"Read the request for amicus curiae status in ADI 5901","arquivo_referencia":false,"link_externo":"https:\/\/conectas.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/2021_06_26-Amicus_5901_Conectas_Lowestein_Signed_PT.pdf"}],"noticias":{"noticia1":{"ID":33687,"post_author":"26","post_date":"2021-09-30 17:40:49","post_date_gmt":"2021-09-30 17:40:49","post_content":"<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In a report released on Wednesday, September 29, the UN expressed concern over the lack of measures taken by the Brazilian government to prevent and investigate the enforced disappearance of people. The document states, among other things, that investigations into murders and disappearances committed by public security agents and military personnel should be handled by jury trials and civilian justice systems, and not by the military justice system, as is often the case in Brazil.<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The report, which adopts an unusually critical tone against the country, is the result of a series of discussions that took place earlier this month at the United Nations Committee on Enforced Disappearances, the body that monitors the implementation of the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, to which Brazil has been a signatory since 2007. The committee heard members of civil society and the Brazilian government.<\/span>\r\n<h2><b>Impartiality of Military Justice<\/b><\/h2>\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Referring to investigations in military courts, the experts said they are concerned about information that the State Court of Bahia had ruled that the military jurisdiction was competent in the case of the enforced disappearance of Davi Fiuza, in 2014. \u201cThe Committee reaffirms its position that, as a matter of principle, all cases of enforced disappearance must be dealt with only by the competent ordinary civilian authorities,\u201d reads the report.&nbsp;<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cThe UN makes it clear that Brazil is violating basic principles of justice by allowing military personnel to judge their peers who are under investigation for committing willful crimes,\u201d said Carolina Diniz, an advisor for the program to Combat Institutional Violence at Conectas.<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Diniz notes that this is not the first time that an international organization has warned Brazil of the need to establish independent mechanisms of investigation. In February 2017, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights of the OAS (Organization of American States), in the sentence in which it condemned the country for <a href=\"https:\/\/conectas.org\/en\/noticias\/nova-brasilia-historic-judgment\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">crimes in the Nova Bras\u00edlia Favela case<\/a>, called for forensics, investigation and judgment of cases involving torture, murder or other crimes committed by agents of the State to be conducted by an agency that is separate from the defendant or defendants.<\/span>\r\n<h2><b>Legal case assesses role of Military Justice&nbsp;<\/b><\/h2>\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In the Supreme Court, the ADI (Direct Action of Unconstitutionality) No. 5901 addresses the role of Military Justice courts. In a request for amicus curiae in the case, Conectas and the Allard K. Lowenstein International Human Rights Clinic at Yale Law School said that the lack of impartiality and independence \u201cprevents access to justice and facilitates impunity in cases of human rights violations\u201d. The organizations also said that \u201cStates that do not limit military jurisdiction to crimes of a strictly military nature often tolerate or cover up human rights violations committed by the armed forces\u201d.<\/span>\r\n\r\n<b>Read more:&nbsp;<\/b>\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><a href=\"https:\/\/conectas.org\/en\/noticias\/understand-the-main-problems-with-the-military-justice-system-in-brazil\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><b>Understand the main problems with the Military Justice system in Brazil<\/b><\/a><\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><a href=\"https:\/\/conectas.org\/en\/noticias\/at-the-oas-organisations-denounce-15-years-since-the-disappearance-of-the-crimes-of-may-victims\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><b>In the OAS, organizations denounce 15 years since disappearance of Crimes of May victims<\/b><\/a><\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<h2><b>Concern over black people and the Amnesty Law<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">&nbsp;<\/span><\/h2>\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The UN report also calls on Brazil to \u201censure that all cases of enforced disappearance are investigated promptly, thoroughly and impartially, even if there has not been a formal criminal complaint\u201d. In another passage, the document expresses concern with information about the enforced disappearance of black people and residents of the poor urban outskirts.<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">One of the most emblematic cases of enforced disappearance are the <a href=\"https:\/\/conectas.org\/en\/noticias\/crimes-of-may-impunity-marks-15-years-since-one-of-the-biggest-massacres-in-sao-paulo\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Crimes of May<\/a>, which occurred 15 years ago in S\u00e3o Paulo. In addition to the death of hundreds of people, the episode also included a number of disappearances. The victims were primarily young black people from neighborhoods in the urban outskirts.<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In May 2021, the S\u00e3o Paulo Public Defender\u2019s Office, the Mothers of May Movement and Conectas submitted <a href=\"https:\/\/conectas.org\/en\/noticias\/at-the-oas-organisations-denounce-15-years-since-the-disappearance-of-the-crimes-of-may-victims\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">a petition to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR)<\/a> asking it to recognize the international responsibility of the Brazilian State for violating the American Convention on Human Rights and the Inter-American Convention on Forced Disappearance of Persons, and also asking it to recommend that Brazil investigate and prosecute the agents involved in the human rights violations committed in this case.<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The cases of enforced disappearance committed during the military dictatorship (1964-1985) are also addressed in the report. According to the committee, the Amnesty Law cannot prevent an investigation into the crimes that occurred during the country\u2019s democratic breakdown, since the crime of disappearance must be considered a continuous crime. In this regard, the National Truth Commission, created in 2011 by the federal government, is cited by the UN as a positive aspect.<\/span>\r\n\r\n<hr>\r\n\r\n<h2><strong><i>See five key points of the report:&nbsp;<\/i><\/strong><\/h2>\r\n<i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">1 \u2013 The lack of a definition of the crime of disappearance in Brazil is one of the obstacles in the way of the full implementation of the UN Convention on the topic.&nbsp;<\/span><\/i>\r\n\r\n<i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">2 \u2013&nbsp;Brazil should prepare detailed statistics on disappeared people.&nbsp;<\/span><\/i>\r\n\r\n<i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">3 \u2013 Military Justice does not have the competence to investigate and judge cases of enforced disappearance when security agents are suspected.&nbsp;<\/span><\/i>\r\n\r\n<i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">4 \u2013&nbsp;The UN Convention is applicable to crimes committed during the military dictatorship, which should be investigated.&nbsp;<\/span><\/i>\r\n\r\n<i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">5 \u2013 There should be recognition that the crime of enforced disappearance continues to occur even during the country\u2019s democracy, especially against the black population.<\/span><\/i>\r\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Links for your reference<\/span><\/h3>","post_title":"Military Justice must not investigate cases of enforced disappearances, says UN report on Brazil","post_excerpt":"In a report released on Wednesday, September 29, the UN expressed concern over the lack of measures taken by the Brazilian government to prevent and investigate the enforced disappearance of people.","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"military-justice-must-not-investigate-cases-of-enforced-disappearances-says-un-report-on-brazil","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2021-10-06 13:51:50","post_modified_gmt":"2021-10-06 13:51:50","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/conectas.org\/?post_type=noticia&#038;p=33687","menu_order":322,"post_type":"noticia","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},"noticia2":{"ID":32702,"post_author":"26","post_date":"2021-07-16 15:24:22","post_date_gmt":"2021-07-16 15:24:22","post_content":"<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The first reports alluded to 80 shots, but the forensic investigation found that 257 bullets had been shot at the car containing the musician Evaldo Rosa dos Santos. Inside the vehicle, besides the musician, were his father-in-law, his wife, his 7-year-old son and a friend. Evaldo died at the scene. Eleven days after the shooting, the recyclable waste collector Luciano Macedo, who was shot while trying to help his family, also lost his life.&nbsp;<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The shots were fired by Army personnel on Sunday, April 7, 2019. The soldiers were on a regular patrol of the security perimeter of the Military Base in the north side of the city of Rio de Janeiro. The crime has been pending without trial in the Military Justice system for more than two years.&nbsp;<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Until 2017, complaints against military personnel were investigated by both the Military Justice and the Civilian Justice systems. In that year, however, the then president Michel Temer signed Law 13,491\/2017 that amended provisions of the Military Code that transferred to the Military Justice system alone the authority to investigate and judge members of the Armed Forces who commit willful crimes against the lives of civilians.<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Military Justice system consists of two levels: the Military Justice Councils, which are lower courts formed by four active officers and one civil judge; and the Superior Military Tribunal, formed by 15 justices, the majority of whom are active military personnel.&nbsp;<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In February 2021, almost two years after the deaths of Evaldo and Luciano, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) declared, in a report, that \u201cthe case reinforces the doubts about the ability of military courts to judge the conduct of their peers impartially\u201d.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/span>\r\n<h3><b>Case in Supreme Court challenges jurisdiction of Military Justice system&nbsp;<\/b><\/h3>\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The circumvention of the authority of a Jury Trial to judge premeditated murder committed by military personnel during GLO (Guarantee Law and Order) operations, for example, removes from civil society an important means of controlling military activity. \u201cWithin the Military Justice system, there are no external control structures, there is no civil control, nor social control over investigative agencies,\u201d said Gabriel Sampaio, coordinator of the program to Combat Institutional Violence at Conectas. \u201cCases of abuse should be investigated by civil authorities and judged, in the case of willful crimes against life, by Jury Trial\u201d.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Moreover, \u201cthese changes introduced by Law 13,491\/2017 generate a conflict between the basic principles of justice and Brazil\u2019s obligations under international law that only authorize the limited application of military justice and only for \u2018functional crimes\u2019 [against the public administration]. There should be no different treatment for military personnel from the Armed Forces compared to police officers or even the civilian population. The crimes should be investigated and judged by civil authorities,\u201d added Sampaio.&nbsp;<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In practice \u2013 in addition to violating the Federal Constitution \u2013 the law can benefit the military and create a kind of safe conduct so soldiers are not held accountable for the excesses they may commit.&nbsp; In view of this, the ADI (Direct Action of Unconstitutionality) No. 5901 filed by the PSOL (Socialism and Liberty Party) in the Supreme Court challenges this authority assigned to the Military Justice system.&nbsp;<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In a request for amicus curiae in ADI Case 5901, Conectas and the Allard K. Lowenstein International Human Rights Clinic at Yale Law School said that the lack of impartiality and independence \u201cprevents access to justice and facilitates impunity in cases of human rights violations\u201d. The organizations also said that \u201cStates that do not limit military jurisdiction to crimes of a strictly military nature often tolerate or cover up human rights violations committed by the armed forces\u201d.<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The experts Masha Lisitsyna, a human rights lawyer specialized in international litigation, and Eugene R. Fidell, an adjunct professor at New York University Law School and senior researcher at Yale Law School, also helped craft the document requesting amicus curiae status in the case.&nbsp;<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">ADI 5901 seeks to prevent Military Justice from becoming a system practically detached from society, with dynamics and rules that do not apply to the population and other civil legal institutions. Making the methods in which it operates more transparent is one way to ensure that human rights are included in the debate and respected.<\/span>","post_title":"Understand the main problems with the Military Justice system in Brazil","post_excerpt":"The first reports alluded to 80 shots, but the forensic investigation found that 257 bullets had been shot at the car containing the musician Evaldo Rosa dos Santos.","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"understand-the-main-problems-with-the-military-justice-system-in-brazil","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2021-07-20 13:06:15","post_modified_gmt":"2021-07-20 13:06:15","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/conectas.org\/?post_type=noticia&#038;p=32702","menu_order":190,"post_type":"noticia","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},"noticia3":{"ID":33470,"post_author":"26","post_date":"2021-09-17 18:05:05","post_date_gmt":"2021-09-17 18:05:05","post_content":"<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">By 22 votes to 7, a special committee of the Lower House of Congress approved in the early hours of Friday, September 17, the text of Bill 1595\/2019, which is separate legislation to the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/conectas.org\/en\/noticias\/partial-veto-of-anti-terrorism-law\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Anti-Terrorism Law of 2016<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. Using counter-terrorism as a justification, the bill establishes mechanisms that could criminalize social movements and other organizations, creates unconstitutional surveillance and provides immunity to public agents who commit crimes.<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The bill is a rewriting of a proposal submitted in 2016 by President Jair Bolsonaro when he was a federal congressman. Now, the text needs to be approved by a full session of the Lower House and the Senate.&nbsp;<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">According to Gabriel Sampaio, coordinator of the program to Combat Institutional Violence at Conectas, the bill is authoritarian in nature and permits the use of repressive tools, secretly, without prior control and transparency, to criminalize social movements and other organizations that are critical of or that oppose the federal government.&nbsp;<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cThe prospect of combating terrorism paves the way for various authoritarian measures. Moreover, the bill creates a structure of repression that will operate secretly, with security and intelligence forces across the country under the command of the federal government, removing any possibility of social control and making it difficult to hold anyone liable for abusive acts,\u201d said Sampaio.<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In a <a href=\"https:\/\/conectas.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/Nota-Tecnica-1595-2019.Ago_.05-1-1.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">technical report<\/a> on the bill, Conectas, the Criminal Justice Network and the Brazilian Criminal Sciences Institute stated that \u201cin this proposal, there is no element that differentiates an \u2018act of terrorism\u2019 from common crimes, as the only requirements to constitute such an act are generic in nature, namely posing a \u2018danger to human life\u2019 and \u2018affecting the definition of public policies\u2019, and these acts do not even need to materialize, since it is enough for the perpetrator to \u2018appear to have the intention\u2019 of causing them\u201d.&nbsp;<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The UN has also expressed concern over the passage of this legislation. \u201cMy Office is also concerned about new draft anti-terrorism legislation in Brazil that includes excessively vague and broad provisions which pose risks of abuse, particularly against social activists and human rights defenders,\u201d <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/noticias.uol.com.br\/colunas\/jamil-chade\/2021\/09\/13\/onu-critica-governo-bolsonaro.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">said on Monday<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, September 13, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet.&nbsp;<\/span>\r\n<h2><b>See the most problematic points of Bill 1595:&nbsp;<\/b><\/h2>\r\n<h2><b>It creates a \u201csecret police\u201d<\/b><\/h2>\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The bill creates a National Counter-Terrorism System and a National Counter-Terrorism Policy, which will be established by the Institutional Security Office of the Presidency of the Republic. These mechanisms will have the purpose of coordinating the preparation and employment of military, police and intelligence units in counter-terrorist actions and they will provide information for possible decrees for federal intervention, state of defense or state of siege in the event of \u201crepressive actions in national territory\u201d. In practice, the project creates a \u201csecret police\u201d formed by the Armed Forces, the Federal Police and ABIN (Brazilian Intelligence Agency), under the direct control of the President of the Republic, which will have broad access to private data and privileged information on all citizens, especially opponents of the government.<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">According to Sampaio, this aspect is even more serious considering the authoritarian nature of the current government. He said that the escalation of the use of the National Security Law, repealed by Congress in early September, is a sign that Jair Bolsonaro wants to spy on and repress opponents using legislation that is at odds with democratic values.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/span>\r\n<h2><b>It paves the way for criminalizing protests&nbsp;<\/b><\/h2>\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The law can apply to acts that \u201care hostile to human life or effectively destructive in relation to any critical infrastructure, essential public service or key resource\u201d. As such, protests that take over a public service or that occupy public spaces to claim rights can be classified as acts of terrorism, resulting in severe and disproportionate penalties.&nbsp;<\/span>\r\n<h2><b>It legalizes qualified immunity&nbsp;<\/b><\/h2>\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The bill states that if a public agent, in legitimate self-defense, causes the death or injury of people in a counter-terrorist action, they may be exempt from liability. It also states that this applies \u201cin the case of necessity or in extenuating circumstances when an undercover agent behaves in a way that constitutes a crime when the situation so requires, especially if characterized as a risk to their own life\u201d.<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">According to Sampaio, \u201cin practice, this is about legalizing qualified immunity for security agents, removing the ability to investigate possible errors and abuses committed by the military and the police, which could make the public security forces even more violent, including at public demonstrations\u201d.<\/span>\r\n<h2><b>It brings back the designation of \u201cpreparatory acts\u201d&nbsp;<\/b><\/h2>\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The bill authorizes the investigation and punishment of so-called \u201cpreparatory acts\u201d. In other words, it creates forms of police intervention without the need for a crime to actually have happened, as mere intentions can be considered crimes. The technical report published by the organizations states that this \u201cinverts the traditional doctrine of criminal law, which only allows the punishment of actual acts (which includes the attempt)\u201d. Given the vagueness of the definition of terrorism in the text of the bill, organizers of demonstrations and protests may be investigated by secret agents and, possibly, punished in accordance with a counter-terrorism law. When conducting investigations, it will be possible to indiscriminately use the private data of the people considered suspects.<\/span>","post_title":"Lower House committee approves \u201ccounterterrorism bill\u201d; see the main problems with the proposal","post_excerpt":"By 22 votes to 7, a special committee of the Lower House of Congress approved in the early hours of Friday, September 17, the text of Bill 1595\/2019, which is separate legislation to the Anti-Terrorism Law of 2016.","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"lower-house-committee-approves-counterterrorism-bill-see-the-main-problems-with-the-proposal","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2021-09-22 17:26:19","post_modified_gmt":"2021-09-22 17:26:19","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/conectas.org\/?post_type=noticia&#038;p=33470","menu_order":290,"post_type":"noticia","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}}},"yoast":{"focuskw":"ADI 5901","title":"","metadesc":"Armed Forces justice system should not be allowed to judge military personnel who threaten the life of civilians","linkdex":"65","metakeywords":"","meta-robots-noindex":"","meta-robots-nofollow":"","meta-robots-adv":"","canonical":"","redirect":"","opengraph-title":"","opengraph-description":"","opengraph-image":"","twitter-title":"","twitter-description":"","twitter-image":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/conectas.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/litigiopt\/34047","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/conectas.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/litigiopt"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/conectas.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/litigiopt"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/conectas.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25920"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/conectas.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34047"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"temaltigio","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/conectas.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/temaltigio?post=34047"},{"taxonomy":"categoria_litigio","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/conectas.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categoria_litigio?post=34047"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}