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DE RUEHBR #1120 2321515
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R 191515Z AUG 08
FM AMEMBASSY BRASILIA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 2297
INFO RUEHWH/WESTERN HEMISPHERIC AFFAIRS DIPL POSTS
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC

UNCLAS BRASILIA 001120 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: BR MARR PGOV PHUM
SUBJECT: CONTROVERSY OVER BRAZIL,S AMNESTY LAW INFLAMES OLD 
TENSIONS 
 
¶1.  (U)  On August 31, Brazilian Justice Mininster Tarso 
Genro called for prosecution of members of the Brazilian 
military involved with violations of human rights, including 
torture, during Brazil,s 1964-85 military government.  This 
would call for a revision of the 1979 law on amnesty which 
halted prosecutions of "crimes of state."  Tarso received 
strong support form Brazil,s human rights and academic 
communities which cite international conventions defining 
torture as a crime against humanity.  As such, argue those 
favoring revision of the law, it would fall outside the 
definition of crimes of state covered by the amnesty law. 
 
¶2.  (U)  Minister Tarso,s statement has elicited a strong 
response from Brazil,s military community.  Several high 
ranking officers, including the President of the Military 
Club General Gilberto Figueiredo, have called for the Justice 
Ministry to focus on other matters, including possible 
prosecutions for anti-government violence during the period 
of military rule.  Groups perpetrating such violence gave a 
start in politics to several prominent members of the Lula 
government, including the President,s Chief of Staff, Dilma 
Rouseff.  Defense Minister Jobim, former head of the Supreme 
Court, urged a reasonable approach saying that the question 
of crimes under military rule was a matter for the judiciary, 
not the administration.  On August 12, President Lula gave 
his support to Jobim,s view and declared that the matter was 
"closed."  Despite the President,s statement, several 
members of Lula,s Workers, Party and other human rights 
advocates have publicly committed to pursuing revision of the 
amnesty law. 
 
¶3.  (SBU) Comment: While efforts to seek justice (or 
political retribution, depending on one,s politics) for 
actions of the military government are not new in Brazil, 
this year,s controversy has provoked stronger reactions than 
in the past.  With the military beginning to emerge from over 
two decades of unpopularity and neglect, its leaders wish to 
avoid reopening old wounds.  One Brazilian air force officer 
cornered a DAO member and spent forty minutes telling him how 
counterproductive changing amnesty would be.  At the same 
time, former opponents to military rule, some of whom occupy 
key government posts, may see the final two years of the Lula 
government as their last best chance to seek convictions of 
former military members.  The choice of human rights groups 
to highlight accusations of torture, a clear violation of 
international human rights standards, gives them a legal 
basis to attack the amnesty.  The courts, however, are taking 
a careful approach.  Supreme Court President Mendes cautioned 
that cases regarding military governments have been a source 
"of much long term instability" in other countries.  With 
President Lula supporting Jobim,s view that "the past is 
past," the amnesty controversy has disappeared from the 
headlines for now, but the strong feelings the period of 
military rule evokes on both sides remain.  The issue may 
well flare up again. 
SOBEL