Professor Mendez also met representatives from the state courts of justice; secretariats of public security, justice and penitentiary administration; unions of prison guards; and victims and their family members.In the official report, the former Special Rapporteur commended Brazil’s legislative progress but asserted that the State’s implementation of anti-torture and impunity measures still needed significant improvement. The report highlights many issues, including Brazil’s severely overcrowded penitentiaries, and that torture, ill-treatment, and killings by police and prison staff are disturbingly common, especially among Afro-Brazilians and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex persons. The former Special Rapporteur concluded his report by calling on the international community to support Brazil’s efforts to implement his recommendations to reduce torture and ill-treatment.
Events & Speaking Engagements
May 18-19, 2018: First Steering Committee Meeting for the Development of the Universal Protocol on Non-Coercive Interviewing and Associated Safeguards (“Universal Protocol”)
The ATI led the First Steering Committee meeting for the development of the Universal Protocol on Non-Coercive Interviewing and Associated Safeguards (“Universal Protocol”) in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The ATI, the Association for the Prevention of Torture (APT), and the Norwegian Centre for Human Rights (“NCHR”) convened fifteen experts working in the fields of human rights, law-enforcement, and psychology to begin developing the Universal Protocol guidelines.
CAPACITY BUILDING AND PARTNERSHIPS
Manual on the Effective Investigation and Documentation of Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (Istanbul Protocol): The ATI and the International Bar Association's Human Rights Institute are actively engaged in hosting trainings, and capacity-building activities in Brazil. Most recently, the ATI and IBAHRI reached an anti-torture training milestone by successfully conducting tailored programs on torture prevention and implementation of the Istanbul Protocol in all 5 regions of Brazil and 23 of Brazil’s 27 states.
May 2018: The ATI and International Bar Association's Human Rights Institute (“IBAHRI”) held ten days of trainings on the Istanbul Protocol for members of the National Preventive Mechanism, State Preventive Mechanisms, and legal and forensic medical professionals. The first trainings, hosted in Rio de Janeiro, taught members of the National and State Preventive Mechanisms about international standards for effectively identifying, documenting, and investigating acts of torture. The training also enhanced the members’ knowledge about how the Istanbul Protocol addresses the psychological aspects of torture. The second capacity-building trainings, hosted in Florianopolis, trained prosecutors, public defenders, and judges in investigative and judicial procedures regarding torture and other ill-treatment, based on international law, treaties, resolutions, and jurisprudence. Additionally, forensic medical professionals learned techniques to identify physical and psychological evidence of torture and the importance of referring victims to rehabilitative services.
June and July 2017: The Anti-Torture Initiative conducted similar trainings for members of the National Prevention Mechanism and members of the State Prevention Mechanisms of Rio de Janeiro and Pernambuco, as well as legal and forensic medical experts in Brasilia and the states of Amazonas (Manaus) and Rio Grande Do Norte (Natal). The trainings strengthened participants understandings of the investigation, documentation, and prevention of torture, thus empowering the participants to correctly apply the Istanbul Protocol to situations of suspected torture. The ATI also met with the Committee for the Prevention of Torture for the state of Amazonas.
RELEVANT RESOURCES
Amicus Brief - Legal Opinion to Brazilian Supreme Court: Solitary Confinement (Mendez 2013)
SRT Mendez submits to the Brazilian Supreme Federal Court of Brazil that Brazil’s Differentiated Disciplinary regime (“RDD”) constitutes solitary confinement that violates Brazil’s international obligation to absolutely prohibit torture or cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment. SRT Mendez also notes that the RDD provides insufficient due process guarantees which increases the risk that an individual will be subjected to additional acts of torture and ill-treatment while in solitary confinement.
Note that the opinion is available in English and Portuguese
Legal Opinion to Brazilian Supreme Court Criticizing Use of Solitary Confinement. The news article notes that Professor Mendez submitted an amicus brief condemning Brazilian Law 1079 and the RDD as contrary to Brazil’s international obligation to absolutely prohibit torture or cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment.