Testimonies of victims and their families, testimonials of political repression agents and 47,000 photographs are among the more than 100,000 documents on human rights violations committed during the Brazilian military dictatorship (1964-1985), produced by Brazil’s National Truth Commission (CNV) and delivered to the National Archive in Rio de Janeiro.
According to the book “The Right to Memory and Truth,” which was published by the Brazilian government, 475 people were killed or disappeared for political reasons during the dictatorship. It’s believed, however, that the real number of deaths and disappearances are much higher when you consider the lack of statistical studies and the people who were never claimed as disappeared.
Pedro Dallari, coordinator of the CNV, pointed out that part of the publication, divided into three volumes, is available online on the agency website, where it is possible to download more than 4,000 documents listed in the report.
“Those documents, which are expressly mentioned in the report, are now available on the Internet, simply by clicking on the document name. The researcher may access the documents on the spot. But I believe the total volume of the more than 100,000 documents will be available on the Internet by the end of the year,” he added.
Expert reports, autopsies and all the filmed material of the proceedings and hearings are also fully accessible and playable on the Internet.
Overcome with emotion, the journalist Hildegard Angel, sister of the student Stuart Angel, political activist missing since 1971, and daughter of the fashion designer Zuzu Angel, who avidly sought for her son until she died in a questionable car accident.
“The dictatorship does not leave us. It is a fissure that never closes. To tell it, to report it, to remember it is a mission never accomplished. For many of us, who do not have the bodies, the National Archive is now our cemetery,” she stated.
Rosa Cardozo, the president of the Truth Commission of the state of Rio de Janeiro and member of the CNV, requested Pepe Vargas to reiterate to President Dilma Rousseff the demand of social movements for memory, truth and justice, of creating an agency that will carry on the work of the Truth Commission.
Created in 2011, the commission conducted several hearings across the country, and was supported by state commissions for investigations and researches. It was dissolved due to the conclusion of the report last December.
The minister Pepe Vargas pledged to deliver the message to the president and advocated the continuity of the investigations.
“There is an arduous work to be done. I have no doubt of the need of this agency. Unfortunately we still daily watch human rights violations committed by state agents, including Amarildo’s case”, Vargas noted, recalling the case of bricklayer who went missing two years ago, after being arrested by the police in the Rocinha shantytown, in Rio de Janeiro.
ABr
