{"id":21000,"date":"2020-05-15T16:31:03","date_gmt":"2020-05-15T16:31:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/conectas.org\/?post_type=noticia&p=21000"},"modified":"2021-04-01T17:26:05","modified_gmt":"2021-04-01T17:26:05","slug":"why-is-it-important-to-track-arms-and-ammunition-in-brazil","status":"publish","type":"noticia","link":"https:\/\/conectas.org\/en\/noticias\/why-is-it-important-to-track-arms-and-ammunition-in-brazil\/","title":"Why is it important to track arms and ammunition in Brazil?","content":"

About a month ago, on April 17, President Jair Bolsonaro ordered the repeal of three Brazilian Army decrees that had established protocols for the identification, tracking and control of weapons<\/strong>, explosives and ammunition manufactured in the country an exported or imported.<\/p>\n

Decrees 46, 60 and 61 had been published in March and April this year based on a recommendation by the Federal Prosecutor\u2019s Office<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/a> made in July 2018, following the investigation into the origin of the bullets used to kill the city councilor Marielle Franco and her driver Anderson Gomes<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

An audit conducted by the Federal Audit Court<\/u><\/span><\/strong><\/a> on the inspection of products controlled by the Army was also decisive for the publication of the decrees, especially no. 46.<\/p>\n

After being asked by the Office of the Federal Prosecutor for the Rights of the Citizen<\/u><\/strong><\/span><\/a>, a body that reports to the Federal Prosecutor\u2019s Office, the Army Logistics Command admitted that the president had ordered the repeal of the measures created to ensure better arms controls in response to requests from the \u201cpublic administration and social media\u201d. The Federal Prosecutor is investigating<\/u><\/strong><\/span><\/a> fundamental rights violations and social setbacks caused by the suspension of the decrees.<\/p>\n

Pressure for more control<\/strong><\/p>\n

An investigation conducted by the Federal Prosecutor\u2019s Office<\/u><\/strong><\/span><\/a> found that the ammunition used to rob a branch of the Post Office in the state of Para\u00edba in July 2017 was from the same batch (UZZ-18)<\/strong> as the bullets used to kill the city councilor Marielle Franco and Anderson Gomes in March 2018.<\/p>\n

This same batch (UZZ-18) of ammunition was also used in one of the biggest massacres in S\u00e3o Paulo\u2019s history<\/strong>, the Osasco massacre<\/u><\/strong><\/span><\/a>, when 17 young people, most of them blacks from poor neighborhoods, were killed in the municipalities of Barueri and Osasco in August 2015.<\/p>\n

These discoveries, coupled with pressure from the banking sector concerned with reducing the number of attacks on bank branches and armored vehicles (that besides firearms use explosives, which are also classified as controlled products subject to oversight), led the Army to set up a Technical Committee to discuss improvements to the system<\/strong>. The decrees published in March and repealed by the president a month later are the direct result of nearly two years of work by this group.<\/p>\n

Decree No. 60 determined the identification and marking of all firearms manufactured in the country and exported or imported. Decree No. 61, meanwhile, addressed the control of ammunition, improving the marking on the ammunition itself and the packaging, in addition to requiring the police to have an electronic system to control their ammunition stocks.<\/p>\n

The decrees also affect, albeit indirectly, so-called CACs (Collectors, Marksmen and Hunters), improving the traceability of the guns and ammunition owned by these groups, including by requiring the marking of cartridge cases used in reloading ammunition.<\/p>\n

Both decrees were issued after police investigations found that the former police sergeant Ronnie Lessa, identified as one of Marielle Franco\u2019s killers, had authorization to buy guns and ammunition because he had a CAC certificate<\/strong>. The same can be said for another suspect, the former police captain Adriano da N\u00f3brega, who had connections with militia groups and close ties to the Bolsonaro family.<\/p>\n

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