Amnesty it is the legal act in which political crimes committed within a certain period of time are forgotten.
In Brazil, the 1979 Amnesty Law allowed the return of all those accused of political crimes during the military regime.
Meaning
The word amnesty comes from the Greek “amnesty” and means forgetting. It is not by chance that it has the same etymological root as amnesia.
Legally, amnesty is the pardon granted by the Legislative Power to crimes that are considered political in nature. Likewise, the processes that investigated these acts cease to exist. Whoever is benefited by actions and amnesty does not respond again for the act committed. It's like he ceased to exist.
The Amnesty Law was sanctioned by President General João Batista Figueiredo, on August 28, 1979, after intense civil society struggles.
Brazil
The fight for amnesty in Brazil began as soon as there was the removal of political rights to parliamentarians for 10 years in 1964.
However, with the AI-5, this demand intensifies because this decree was much more comprehensive. Thus, in 1971, a group of MDB parliamentarians added the request for amnesty in a party document called “
Charter from Recife”.The government treated allegations of torture and ill-treatment as a smear campaign and tried to silence these voices.
In 1973, however, during the indirect presidential election, opposition candidate Ulysses Guimarães made a speech demanding amnesty.
Likewise, women joined this struggle with the creation of the Women's Movement for Amnesty (MFPA) in 1975. This action is important within the framework of the Feminism in Brazil.
The Manifesto launched by this organization got 16,000 signatures across the country. Then, civil entities such as the Brazilian Press Association (ABI), the National Confederation of the Bishops of Brazil (CNBB), and the Brazilian Bar Association (OAB) openly support the amnesty.
Likewise, the economic model practiced by the military was exhausted and the population began to organize around associations such as the Movement against the Lack of Life, among others.
during the government geisel (1974-1979) there was a timid political opening with the repeal of AI-5. the journalist's death Vladimir Herzog it was a setback to the government, as the Union was held responsible for his death.
By passing the track to its successor, João Baptista Figueiredo (1918-1999), this continued with Geisel's policy of openness (1907-1996).
However, this should be controlled by the military and its civilian allies, leaving little leeway for the opposition.
The idea that Amnesty should be “broad, general and unrestricted” was increasingly gaining ground, in other words, covering all those who practiced acts in the name of the struggle against the dictatorship.
To draw even more media attention, a group of political prisoners imprisoned in Rio de Janeiro begins a hunger strike on July 22nd.
The strikers are visited by senator Petrônio Portela (Arena-AL) who was part of the Mixed Commission that analyzed a bill for amnesty.
voting
In an eight-hour session at the Congress of Deputies, with roused speeches and plainclothes soldiers in the galleries, parliamentarians pass the Amnesty law.
So, on August 28, 1979, President Figueiredo sanctioned the law. With this, exiled politicians and intellectuals were able to return to the country and professionals were able to regain their jobs.
The law covered the crimes committed between September 2, 1961 and August 15, 1979. It guaranteed the return of exiles to the country; reinstatement of suspended political rights of employees of direct and indirect administration; of the Legislative and Judiciary servers; foundations linked to the government.
It also extended these benefits to military personnel involved in crimes committed against those who were detained.
In the Amnesty Law, those convicted of crimes of terrorism, assault, kidnapping and attack were not granted amnesty. These processes followed their normal course.
The amnesty immediately benefited 100 political prisoners and 150 banished. About 2000 Brazilians were able to return to the country and among the people who returned quickly we can mention: Fernando Gabeira, Hebert de Souza, Betinho; Leonel Brizola, Luís Carlos Prestes, Márcio Moreira Alves, Miguel Arraes, Francisco Julião.
Amnesty Commission
The Amnesty Commission was created in 2002 to repair crimes and violations of Human rights committed in Brazil between 1946 and 1988.
Until 2017, the Commission had received 75,000 requests for compensation, economic or moral. Of the total, 63 thousand were judged and 40,300 were granted. There are still 10,000 cases awaiting judgment.
It is not always about getting some economic compensation, but about asking for recognition of political amnesty status and receiving an official apology.
Amnesty International
Amnesty International is an organization founded in 1961 that fights against arbitrary arrests, human trafficking and any type of state violence against citizens.
In Brazil, in 1972, under the general government Emilio Medici (1970-1974), the institution released a report denouncing torture in the country.
The international repercussion was so great that Brazilian newspapers were prohibited from mentioning the name of Amnesty International in their publications.
Three years later, Amnesty International chose Brazilian prisoner César Benjamin, an underage student, as that year's "prisoner of conscience".
This meant that he would become the symbol of all those who went through the same situation. In this way, the pressure on the Brazilian government, for his release, increased.
Thanks to the efforts of Amnesty International lawyers and journalists, César Benjamin was released in 1976 and expelled from the country the following day. He headed for Sweden where Amnesty members had secured political asylum for him.
Amnesty International continues to fight for those responsible for crimes committed by the military and state agents in Brazil to be punished.
Curiosity
The campaign's motto for amnesty was "Broad, General and Unrestricted" and was coined in 1978 by the jurist Aloysio Tavares Picanço (1922-2015) when he voted in favor of the opinion prepared by the OAB by the amnesty politics. Quickly, the expression gained the streets, posters and banners.
Read more:
- 1964 Military Coup
- 1967 Constitution
- economic miracle
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