{"id":5258,"date":"2015-11-04T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2015-11-04T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/new.conectas.org.inf.br\/wp\/noticias\/un-criticizes-brazils-anti-terrorism-legislation\/"},"modified":"2021-04-23T18:52:25","modified_gmt":"2021-04-23T18:52:25","slug":"un-criticizes-brazils-anti-terrorism-legislation","status":"publish","type":"noticia","link":"https:\/\/conectas.org\/en\/noticias\/un-criticizes-brazils-anti-terrorism-legislation\/","title":"UN criticizes Brazil\u2019s anti-terrorism legislation","content":"

\"\"Four United Nations special rapporteurs publicly criticized this Wednesday, November 4, the anti-terrorism bill being fast-tracked through the Brazilian Congress. They said the bill has an overly broad definition of terrorism and could restrict fundamental freedoms.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe fear that the definition of the crime established by the draft law may result in ambiguities and confusion as to what the State considers a terrorist offence, potentially undermining the exercise of human rights and fundamental freedoms,\u201d said the rapporteurs in a public statement<\/u><\/a>.<\/p>\n

Under the false pretense of protecting the nation, Bill 101\/2015<\/u><\/a> could be used to criminalize activists, organizations and social movements that use protests to defend their rights. The bill was approved in the Senate on October 28 and is expected to be voted by the lower house in the next few weeks before being signed into law by the president.<\/p>\n

According to Juana Kweitel, program director at Conectas, the statement by the UN rapporteurs expresses the same concerns as Brazilian non-governmental organizations. \u201cWhen organizations fighting for rights encounter risks in their work, the loser is democracy,\u201d said Kweitel.<\/p>\n

In letter of condemnation<\/u><\/a>, more than 80 organizations explained why the legislation will not make Brazil safer, since it does not establish any crime that is not already defined in the country\u2019s Criminal Code.<\/p>\n

Click here to read the statement by the rapporteurs:<\/p>\n

\n
\n<\/div>\n

Brazil anti-terrorism law too broad, UN experts warn<\/strong><\/a><\/u><\/p>\n

GENEVA (4 November 2015) \u2013 Proposed anti-terrorism legislation currently being considered by Brazil\u2019s Congress is too broadly drafted and may unduly restrict fundamental freedoms, warned today a group of UN Special Rapporteurs (*).<\/p>\n

\u201cWe fear that the definition of the crime established by the draft law may result in ambiguities and confusion as to what the State considers a terrorist offence, potentially undermining the exercise of human rights and fundamental freedoms,\u201d the independent experts said.<\/p>\n

Law N\u00b0 101\/2015 seeks to define crimes of terrorism in Brazil and provides for other investigative and procedural provisions. On 28 October 2015, the Brazilian Senate passed the legislation by 34 votes to 18. The amended text now returns to the lower house.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe regret that the current draft excluded a previous article establishing an important safeguard that would protect participation in political demonstrations and social movements from falling under the legislation\u2019s scope,\u201d the experts said.<\/p>\n

The Special Rapporteurs shared their concerns with the Brazilian authorities, who in turn provided further clarifications on the draft law.<\/p>\n

\u201cStates have a duty to protect civil society and the rights that are critical to its existence and development, such as the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and association, and to freedom of expression,\u201d they added.<\/p>\n

\u201cUnclear or overly broad definitions of terrorism carry the potential for deliberate misuse of the term,\u201d warned the experts. For that reason, \u201clegislation aimed at countering terrorism must be sufficiently precise to comply with the principle of legality, so as to prevent it from being used to target civil society, silence human rights defenders, bloggers and journalists, and criminalize peaceful activities in defence of minority, religious, labour and political rights,\u201d they noted.<\/p>\n

The experts stressed that where security-focused legislation can have an impact on fundamental freedoms, States should always ensure that the principles of necessity, proportionality and non-discrimination are fully respected.<\/p>\n

\u201cCounter-terrorism measures that have a negative impact on the ability of NGOs to operate effectively and independently are bound to be ultimately counterproductive in reducing the threat posed by terrorism,\u201d the experts noted.<\/p>\n

The bill in question was transferred to the Senate on 19 August 2015, after being approved by the Chamber of Deputies and was considered through an urgent procedure.<\/p>\n

The experts concluded that \u201cpublic consultation in the lawmaking process is indeed an indispensable element in developing policies and in the preparation of legislation.\u201d<\/p>\n

(*) The experts:<\/p>\n

Ben Emmerson<\/strong>, Special Rapporteur on the protection and promotion of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism;\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.ohchr.org\/EN\/Issues\/Terrorism\/Pages\/SRTerrorismIndex.aspx<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

David Kaye<\/strong>, Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression;\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.ohchr.org\/EN\/Issues\/FreedomOpinion\/Pages\/OpinionIndex.aspx<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

Maina Kiai<\/strong>, Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association;\u00a0<\/em>http:\/\/www.ohchr.org\/EN\/Issues\/AssemblyAssociation\/Pages\/SRFreedomAssemblyAssociationIndex.aspx<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

Michel Forst<\/strong>, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders;\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.ohchr.org\/EN\/Issues\/SRHRDefenders\/Pages\/SRHRDefendersIndex.aspx<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>

<\/div>","excerpt":"

Rapporteurs warn that the bill approved in the Senate is overly broad and could restrict fundamental freedoms<\/p>\n","author":2,"featured_media":35175,"parent":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0},"categories":[7],"tags":[221,380],"tema":[12278],"class_list":["post-5258","noticia","type-noticia","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-anti-terrorism-law","tag-un","tema-democracy-and-human-rights-movement"],"acf":{"subtitle-pt":"Rapporteurs warn that the bill approved in the Senate is overly broad and could restrict fundamental freedoms","author":false},"yoast":{"focuskw":"","title":"","metadesc":"","linkdex":"","metakeywords":"","meta-robots-noindex":"","meta-robots-nofollow":"","meta-robots-adv":"","canonical":"","redirect":"","opengraph-title":"","opengraph-description":"","opengraph-image":"","twitter-title":"","twitter-description":"","twitter-image":""},"featured_image":{"original":"https:\/\/conectas.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/5D3_6272_e_11401.jpg","thumbnail":"https:\/\/conectas.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/5D3_6272_e_11401-150x150.jpg","medium":"https:\/\/conectas.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/5D3_6272_e_11401.jpg","medium_large":"https:\/\/conectas.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/5D3_6272_e_11401.jpg","large":"https:\/\/conectas.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/5D3_6272_e_11401.jpg","1536x1536":"https:\/\/conectas.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/5D3_6272_e_11401.jpg","2048x2048":"https:\/\/conectas.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/5D3_6272_e_11401.jpg","post_slider_img":"https:\/\/conectas.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/5D3_6272_e_11401-350x224.jpg","storyform_xlarge":"https:\/\/conectas.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/5D3_6272_e_11401.jpg","storyform_xxlarge":"https:\/\/conectas.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/5D3_6272_e_11401.jpg","storyform_xxxlarge":"https:\/\/conectas.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/5D3_6272_e_11401.jpg","noticia":"https:\/\/conectas.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/5D3_6272_e_11401.jpg"},"terms":{"acoes_categorias":[],"acoes_tags":[],"category":[{"term_id":7,"name":"News","slug":"news","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":7,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":1550,"filter":"raw","term_order":"0","permalink":"https:\/\/conectas.org\/en\/category\/news\/","relative_link":"category\/news\/","langs":{"en":"news","br":"noticia-conectas"}}],"post_tag":[{"term_id":221,"name":"Anti-Terrorism Law","slug":"anti-terrorism-law","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":221,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":14,"filter":"raw","term_order":"0","permalink":"https:\/\/conectas.org\/en\/tag\/anti-terrorism-law\/","relative_link":"tag\/anti-terrorism-law\/","langs":{"en":"anti-terrorism-law","br":null}},{"term_id":380,"name":"UN","slug":"un","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":380,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":104,"filter":"raw","term_order":"0","permalink":"https:\/\/conectas.org\/en\/tag\/un\/","relative_link":"tag\/un\/","langs":{"en":"un","br":null}}]},"author_name":"Leonardo Medeiros","author_nicename":"leonardo-medeiros","protected":false,"langs":{"en":"un-criticizes-brazils-anti-terrorism-legislation","br":"onu-critica-pl-antiterrorista"},"permalink":"https:\/\/conectas.org\/en\/noticias\/un-criticizes-brazils-anti-terrorism-legislation\/","relative_url":"https:\/\/conectas.org\/en\/noticias\/un-criticizes-brazils-anti-terrorism-legislation\/","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/conectas.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/noticias\/5258","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/conectas.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/noticias"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/conectas.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/noticia"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/conectas.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/conectas.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5258"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/conectas.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/35175"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/conectas.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5258"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/conectas.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5258"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/conectas.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5258"},{"taxonomy":"tema","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/conectas.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tema?post=5258"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}