{"id":5752,"date":"2016-10-18T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2016-10-18T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/new.conectas.org.inf.br\/wp\/noticias\/use-of-force-in-protests\/"},"modified":"2021-03-30T14:26:14","modified_gmt":"2021-03-30T14:26:14","slug":"use-of-force-in-protests","status":"publish","type":"noticia","link":"https:\/\/conectas.org\/en\/noticias\/use-of-force-in-protests\/","title":"Use of force in protests","content":"

Appellate Judge Mauricio Fiorito, the reporting judge in the case that calls for regulation on the use of force by the police at protests, requested on Tuesday, October 18, that the S\u00e3o Paulo State Court of Appeals suspend the Public Civil Action filed in 2014 by the S\u00e3o Paulo Public Defender\u2019s Office following the abuses committed by the military police during the mass protests in June 2013<\/a>. Although Judge Camargo Pereira seconded Fiorito, Judge Antonio Carlos Malheiros requested another postponement<\/a> to analyze the case.<\/p>\n

In today\u2019s session, the S\u00e3o Paulo court judges were meant to decide whether or not to uphold a trial court\u2019s preliminary injunction<\/a> that restricts the use of rubber bullets and tear gas by the military police at protests and that requires the police to draft a regulation on the use of force in these situations. Fiorito\u2019s request to suspend the case automatically annulled the judgement of the appeal.<\/p>\n

The decision perplexed the human rights organizations and movements present at the session:<\/p>\n

\u201cThe reporting judge claims that the Judiciary is not qualified to intervene in the policies of other branches, namely the Executive, which controls the police. But we know this is not true: the judge himself has voted on countless occasions for the intervention of the Judiciary in health, education, etc. It appears to us that the argument is far more ideological than technical, to shield the police, which is regrettable,\u201d said Rafael Cust\u00f3dio, coordinator of the Justice program at Conectas. Judge Fiorito justified his request saying there are already laws in place that regulate the actions of the Military Police and that require them to use less-lethal weapons.<\/p>\n

Since Judge Malheiros requested an adjournment, the Public Civil Action filed by Public Defender\u2019s Office is still valid. \u201cOur mission now is to make the trial court judge aware of the situation so the case can be ruled on permanently as soon as possible,\u201d explained Cust\u00f3dio.<\/p>\n

The session was attended by protestors who carried signs saying things like \u201cIt\u2019s my right to protest without fear\u201d and \u201cI don\u2019t deserve bullets, beatings and tear gas\u201d.<\/p>\n

A public petition<\/a> organized by S\u00e3o Paulo\u2019s Minha Sampa network and by Conectas, which was attached to the case in April with 12,000 signatures, currently has more than 34,000 supporters.<\/p>\n