BRASÍLIA
– Brazilian Military Ministers to Resign after decree signed by president Luiz
Inacio Lula da Silva last week
O Globo Newspaper - Published on December 29, 2009 at 11:59 p.m.
By Evandro Éboli
The
creation of the National
Program of Human Rights provoked a crisis in the government, and
prompted the Defense Minister, Nelson Jobim, and the three military commanders
to hand over a resignation letter to the president. The military were irritated
with the program tone that opens up the possibility of investigation of acts
committed by State agents during the dictatorship, and revision of the Amnesty
Law, that can allow the condemnation of officials of that time.
Lula
did not accept the resignation, and argued that he did not have the complete
knowledge of the program content [despite signing it!], and promised to review
the part of the decree that generated the dissatisfaction. Lula also promised to
defer sending the project to the Congress, which would create the commission to
take care of investigations about abuses during the dictatorship.
Jobim
met with Lula at the Brasilia’s Air base last Tuesday, a day after the
president launched the plan. In the meeting, Jobim not only manifested the
military dissatisfaction, but also delivered the letter of collective
resignation. Before meeting Lula, Jobim was with the commanders Enzo Peri (Army)
and Juniti Saito (Aeronautics). The Navy commander, Admiral Julio Moura Neto,
was not in town, but he supported the initiative.
With
Lula's assurance that the text would be changed, Jobim, on the following day,
flew to Rio de Janeiro, where he met with the High Command. The minister
transmitted Lula's promise to the generals, who together with the three
commanders, were satisfied with the explanations and considered this a closed
case.
The
Truth Commission creation irritated the
military. Two
program guidelines irritated profoundly the military: The [so-called] National
Truth Commission creation and the possibility of revision of the Amnesty Law.
The commission, whose creation depends on approval of the Brazilian Congress,
will have ample powers to process facts occurred during the dictatorship, and to
collaborate with the justice to assist in the supposed crimes analysis. The
project should be sent to the Congress until April 2010, but Lula promised to
the militaries to stop sending the proposal in.
Militaries
also argued that the text treats with inequality both sides, and does not
foresee any acts punishment of crimes committed by the guerrilla fighters, and
political activists against State agents.
Jungmann: This case strengthens Nelson Jobim. In the chapter that takes care of the
"Right to the memory and to the truth", the program points out that Brazil still
has difficulty in processing what occurred with the repression victims. "The
investigation of the past is fundamental for the construction of the
citizenship. To study the past, to rescue its truth and to bring afloat what
happened characterizes a decent form of historical experience, which is
essential for the constitution of the individual and collective
memory".
The
document emphasizes that a lawsuit is currently filed at the STF (Federal
Supreme Court), and which contests the interpretation that the Amnesty Law does
not allow the punishment of military that took part in the repression. "The
lawsuit demands a formal decision to make it clear if, in 1979 there was or not
in the amnesty given, public agents responsible for the practice of torture,
homicide, forced disappearance, authority abuse, bodily harm, and rape against
political opponents".
If
Lula's decision to review the decree is confirmed, the minister of the Human
Rights Secretariat, Paulo Vannuchi, is weakened. He is the program mentor and
coordinator, which groups together hundreds of lawsuits in several areas,
including public safety and education. Vannuchi was called by "O GLOBO", but he
did not return the calls. In an interview to the Brazil Agency, an official news
agency, Vannuchi said that the debate about what occurred in the dictatorship
advanced in the Lula government, and emphasized the discussions about limits and
impunity to torturers.
- "A
correct interpretation of the Amnesty Law of 1979, not the common sense that was
wrought, and that is being imposed even today", said Vannuchi to the Brazil
Agency.
The
Deputy Raul Jungmann (PPS-Popular Socialist Party - PE), president of the
Parliamentary Front for National Defense, said that the episode strengthens
Jobim.
- "He
took the crisis to himself, and his authority prevailed", said
Jungmann.
When
called on this Tuesday, Jobim refused to comment. The Reserve Colonel Joao
Batista Fagundes, Armed Forces Representative in the Commission of Missing and
Deceased Political Persons, said that there are no hidden with new information
about the dictatorship period.
- "I am
a witness that, from the Army Command, we always had the necessary goodwill in
bringing these facts to light. I spoke with General Enzo, who gave whoever is
interested complete liberty to seek for this information.
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