The commission will sit for two years and will not have any judicial or prosecutorial powers. However, despite the complaints of victims’ relatives, the assumption is that the commission’s findings could open the door to future legal cases. Technically, Brazil’s 1979 Amnesty Law prevents that, although in response to a case brought by victims’ relatives the Inter-American Court on Human Rights last year ordered Brazil to open judicial proceedings, which potentially could force the state to derogate the Amnesty Law. The Supreme Court last year upheld the Amnesty Law, a ruling that was crucial to the military’s decision to agree to the truth commission proposal. The government also agreed that the commission examine abuses on both sides by way of a gesture to the military. That decision remains controversial. This week Fernando Henrique Cardoso said he believes that only crimes committed by the state should be examined, although he added yesterday that the commission “opens the doors to reconciliation”.
Upon announcing the commission members last week, President Rousseff stated “We cannot permit that in Brazil truth is corrupted by silence”. Rousseff, herself a former political prisoner and torture victim, has repeatedly insisted that she is not “in the business of revenge”.
The commission’s objectives are to clarify the facts and circumstances of cases of grave human rights violations between 1946 and 1988 and promote the circumstantial clarification of cases of torture, death, forced disappearances, the hiding of corpses and the authorship thereof, including cases that occurred abroad. The commission will have full access to public records and may request interviews with anyone of interest, who will have a “duty to the state” to oblige. Individuals whose lives might come under threat as a result of their cooperation can be assigned protected status. The commission can also hold public audiences. It will decide whether to name names publicly in the final report and can opt to submit these to the president only. Legal experts suggest that the commission could also advise that the Amnesty Law is not constructive [to national reconciliation].
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