Wednesday 16 May 2012

Brazil: Truth commission comes together for first time

Brazil's truth commission members are meeting for the first time today at a ceremony led by president Dilma Roussefff. It is being attended (as I write) by former presidents Fernando Henrique Cardoso, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, José Sarney and Fernando Collor.

The BBC focuses on the commission's difficult task of balancing the opposing demands of human rights activists and the military.

"Of course there were terrible things that happened in this period but there were victims on both sides and they only want to tell one side of the story," says retired Vice Admiral Ricardo Antonio da Veiga Cabral, chairman of Rio de Janeiro's Navy Club.
[...]
The Navy Club has designated seven of its members - "seven trusted officers", according to Vice Admiral Veiga Cabral - to form a "shadow commission" to counter whatever accusations may come their way.
[...]
"We wanted a 'Truth, Memory and Justice' Commission. With the resources and powers given to the commission I doubt very much they will be able to come up with anything groundbreaking," says Victoria Grabois, president of Rio de Janeiro-based organisation Tortura Nunca Mais (Torture Never Again). 
 Brazil's truth commission faces delicate task (BBC)

Dilma instala Comissão da Verdade nesta quarta-feira (O Globo)

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