Brazil’s Ministry of Human Rights and Citizenship has launched a series of events to celebrate memory, truth and justice

Brazil’s Ministry of Human Rights and Citizenship (Ministério dos Direitos Humanos e da Cidadania/MDHC) launched today a stamp alluding to the country’s “Never Again Week” (“Semana do Nunca Mais) – focused on preserving memory, truth, and the struggle towards democracy and social justice. A series of acts and events during the special week signal the resumption of national institutional agendas.

The Week – whose theme is  “Restored Memory, Living Democracy” – will effectively begin on Monday (27). In Brazilian capital Brasília, the Ministry’s Special Advisor for the Defense of Democracy, Memory and Truth, Nilmário Miranda, will take part in an act on the city’s Honestino Guimarães Bridge.

When inaugurated in 1976, the bridge was named after Artur da Costa e Silva, Brazilian Army Marshal and the second president of the Brazilian military government. The bridge’s name was changed in 2015, but a court decision later reestablished its original title. In 2021, a Federal District Legislative Chamber (Câmara Legislativa do Distrito Federal) bill once again named the bridge Honestino Guimarães, only to be vetoed by Governor Ibaneis Rocha. Last year this veto was overturned – and the bridge now bears the name of the Brazilian student leader who was arrested four times for his militancy in Brazil’s anti dictatorship student movement. Honestino never returned from his last arrest in 1973.

“Never Again Week” runs until April 2 in reference to a period in Brazilian history in which cultural erasure and authoritarianism strove to change the course of real events – and were not in line with democratic, progressive interests and the defense of human dignity. On March 31, 1964, the country suffered a military coup that caused notorious violations of human rights.

“In our recent history – and over the last six years – there have been certain movements that went strongly against social justice. This is also why we are advancing an agenda to resume our leading role in the fight for democracy,” said Nilmário Miranda.

OTHER AGENDAS – On Tuesday (28), the Ministry of Human Rights and Citizenship will hold an official hearing for more than 150 relatives of the dictatorship dead or missing. The event will be attended by Minister Silvio Almeida. On Wednesday (29), political amnesty holders will take part in a second hearing with the minister. On Thursday (30), Brazil’s Amnesty Commission (Comissão de Anistia) – which works towards reparation for those who were persecuted – will hold its first session following years of mischaracterization.

To close these events that reject authoritarianism and extremism – and fight for humanitarian dignity and social justice –, Minister Silvio Almeida will take part in São Paulo’s “Walk of Silence” (“Caminhada do Silêncio”) on April 2, at 4 PM. The act will be held in Ibirapuera Park and surroundings, and was organized by the Movimento Vozes do Silêncio to “promote a silent walk in memory of the victims of state violence”, according to the organization.

Also on Sunday, Minister Silvio Almeida will visit the Federal University of São Paulo’s (Universidade Federal de São Paulo/Unifesp) Center for Anthropology and Forensic Archeology (Centro de Antropologia e Arqueologia Forense/CAAF). Work is being carried out to identify bone remnants recovered from the clandestine trench of Perus – a cemetery on the outskirts of São Paulo where political victims of the military dictatorship were buried.

AMNESTY COMMISSION – Brazil’s Special Advisory for the Defense of Democracy, Memory and Truth houses two commissions: the Amnesty Commission, whose bylaws were published on Thursday (23), and the Special Commission on Political Deaths and Disappearances (Comissão Especial sobre Mortos e Desaparecidos Políticos), to be reestablished soon by presidential decree.

Professor and president of the Amnesty Commission Eneá de Stutz e Almeida highlighted that the group’s work has in fact been reestablished. “The victims of state persecution long to hear those who violated their human rights acknowledging these errors. Above all, the Brazilian State’s symbolic reparation for authoritarian abuse is irreplaceable”, stressed Eneá.

SEMANA DO NUNCA MAIS

Act on Honestino Guimarães Bridge
Monday, March 27, 11:30 AM
Setor de Clubes Sul, Brasília

Hearing for relatives of dictatorship dead or missing persons
Tuesday, March 28, 10 PM to 12 PM
Esplanada dos Ministérios, Block A Auditorium, Brasília

Hearing for political amnesty holders
Wednesday, March 29, 10 PM to 12 PM
Esplanada dos Ministérios, Block A Auditorium, Brasília
Live streaming: @mdhcbrasil

1st Session of the Amnesty Commission in 2023
Thursday, March 30, 9 AM to 1 PM
Esplanada dos Ministérios, Block A Auditorium, Brasília
Live streaming: @mdhcbrasil

3rd São Paulo Walk of Silence
Sunday, April 2, 4 PM
Ibirapuera Park, São Paulo

For more information : press@mdh.gov.br / (+5561) 2027-3538