By Erin Maskell
On November 18, 2011, Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff signed two major pieces of legislation: the Law of the Truth Commission (Lei da Comissão da Verdade) and the Law of Access to Public Information (Lei da Acesso à Informaҫão), making Brazil the 89th country in the world to enact a freedom of information law. These laws are interconnected and mark an important step in bringing Brazil into the modern world by finally opening a window of public scrutiny on its dark past.
After years of ignoring the abuses that occurred under the military dictatorship in Brazil, the Lei da Comissão da Verdade establishes a seven member truth commission to investigate and report on the murders, torture, and disappearances perpetrated by both the government and the resistance from 1946-1988. The commission will have two years to complete its investigation. The law empowers the commissioners to summon witnesses under oath as well as gain access to all government documents—at least in theory.
“The truth commission law is a political compromise with a resistant and obstinate Brazilian military which has repeatedly refused to produce records on repression,” points out Peter Kornbluh, who directs the Brazil Documentation Project at the Washington D.C.-based National Security Archive. “Truth can be a powerful first step toward accountability for the repression of the military era,” Kornbluh notes, “but only a first step.” (more…)
