Bolsonaro’s gun decrees target of complaint in UN

In a statement made on Friday, March 19, the organizations Igarapé, Sou da Paz and Conectas criticize the lack of security policies and call on Judiciary and Congress to take action

8.549 armas obsoletas e sem condições de uso na atividade policial são destruídas como parte das ações estruturantes conduzidas pelo Gabinete de Intervenção Federal, no Batalhão de Manutenção e Suprimento de Armas do Exército, na Vila Militar, zona oeste da cidade.Foto Tânia Rêgo/Agência Brasil

“Despite the high rates of gun violence, the Brazilian government has increased access to guns and ammunition and reduced the capacity of the State to control these arsenals,” said the Igarapé Institute, the Sou da Paz Institute and Conectas Human Rights on the morning of Friday, March 19, at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, Switzerland.

In the statement, the organizations emphasized the impacts of these changes on the Brazilian population: “In 2020, there were 43,000 murders in the country, 70% of them committed with firearms. This policy accentuates the impacts of racism, since black people represent ¾ of the victims of homicides, and neglects the importance of controlling guns and ammunition to reduce violence against women and other forms of victimization.”

According to the organizations, this deregulation not only affects Brazil’s security and democratic stability, but it also poses a threat to other countries that will be impacted by the increased trafficking in guns and ammunition.

For these reasons, the organizations are asking the Brazilian Judiciary and Congress to prevent the harmful effects of this policy, given that there are cases pending in the Supreme Court (notably the Direct Actions of Unconstitutionality nos. 6675 and 6119) and Legislative Decree Bills in both houses of Congress with the power to revoke the presidential decrees that have weakened gun control.

The organizations also ask that the UN Human Rights Council carefully monitor the rights violations occurring in Brazil and that the federal government implement security policies that respect life, tackle racism and assure the fundamental rights of its population.