Ministry of Justice department found monitoring more than 500 anti-fascist public security agents
The action is reminiscent of the military dictatorship and a network of organizations has taken steps to stop the persecution from continuing
André Mendonça, Minister of Justice and Public Security in a press conference
Approximately 40 organizations from the Pact for Democracy signed a statement in which they condemn a file kept by the Ministry of Justice. The document is labeled confidential and it exposes the political persecution of public servants and academics from movements that defend democracy.
The file, obtained by Rubens Valente, a columnist from the news site UOL, lists at least 579 public security agents as “opinion formers” from an anti-fascist police movement. According to Valente, the file was compiled by the department responsible for investigating criminal offenses, both by the federal police and the civil police.
The statement signed by the organizations points out that this action is reminiscent of the witch-hunts that were common during the military dictatorship – emphasizing that the file is a blatant threat to the rule of law and infringes on freedom of expression of ideas and thoughts.
The Pact for Democracy considers it extremely serious that the federal government is acting to suppress voices that stray from the official discourse of the current government, and it endorses the concerns of Comissão Arns and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR). The group sympathizes with the targets of the action and will remain vigilant on this or any other attack by the government against democratic leaders.
