A delegation of Brazilian civil society organizations traveled to Geneva to denounce the increase in political violence and the constant attacks by President Jair Bolsonaro (PL) on the electoral system. This Tuesday morning (13), a representative of the delegation will make a formal complaint during the session of the United Nations Human Rights Council.
“Democracy and the electoral system are under great threat in Brazil. We are experiencing an unprecedented situation in Brazilian democracy”, says the text of the complaint, to which the Sheet had access.
“One example is the attacks made by authorities on the Superior Electoral Court, questioning the voting system without evidence and through disinformation.”
Lawyer Sara Branco, coordinator of the Center for the Study of Labor Relations and Inequalities (CEERT), was selected to speak by the delegation, which also includes the entities Justiça Global, ABGLT, WBO, ABONG, Article 19, Conectas, Ação Educativa, the Arns Commission. and Land of Rights.
“In addition to asking the international community for immediate recognition of the result of the Brazilian elections, we also want to draw attention to the worrying issue of the increase in political violence, especially in relation to the safety of women’s candidacies, mainly black, indigenous and LGBTQIA+”, says White.
This Monday (12), in a parallel event to the Human Rights Council meeting, the groups anticipated some of the criticisms that will be made. “It is critical that the international community express its support for Brazilian democracy and its confidence in the electoral system, which has been the target of unfounded attacks on its reliability as a backdrop for a broader attack on democracy,” said Paulo Lugon, international adviser. of the Arns Commission.
According to the organizers, the delegation in Europe aims to raise international support for the official result of the October election and the reliability of the electoral process as a whole. The group also states that it will “expose the risks to the Democratic Rule of Law promoted by Bolsonaro and part of his supporters, as well as the advancement of the curtailment of civil and democratic liberties”.
In a trip that has already passed through Berlin, Madrid and Brussels, the delegation of Brazilian activists also met with representatives of the High Commissioner of the European Union, in addition to politicians and civil society entities. Part of the activists will also go to Paris, where they will have commitments with similar aims.
Representatives of the organizations also visited Washington in July to meet with parliamentarians. After the trip, congressmen intensified pressure measures on the government of Joe Biden, urging the US to react if Bolsonaro promotes a coup attempt in Brazil after an eventual defeat at the polls.
“We have always received reactions of great solidarity and concern about the situation in our country. We realize that the international community is very well informed”, says Camila Asano, program director at Conectas. “The world is paying attention to what is happening in Brazil, with the unproven attacks on the electoral system.”
At the end of August, in her last press conference before leaving the command of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet condemned Bolsonaro’s attacks on institutions and the electoral system.
“I believe that President Bolsonaro has intensified his attacks on the Judiciary and the electronic voting system, including a meeting with ambassadors in July, which provoked strong reactions, as you know,” said the former Chilean president, referring to a presentation, full of false information and baseless conspiracy theories, made by the Brazilian leader to dozens of diplomats.
After the meeting, several countries reinforced their confidence in the Brazilian electoral system.
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