Defense or abuse? The controversial Brazilian law against organized crime

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While the government promises greater control of impunity and violence, the opposition believes that the abuse of the law against citizens will increase

On February 4, the Minister of Justice and Public Security of Brazil, Sergio Moro, presented to some representatives of the Chamber of Deputies, the plan of the Brazilian Government to counteract organized crime in the country, as indicated by Infobae.

Leer en español: ¿Defensa o abuso? La polémica ley de Brasil contra el crimen organizado

According to the Argentine media, "the Justice Minister said in a press conference that the project aims to toughen action against organized crime, corruption, and violent crimes", three of the evils that most affect society and politics of Brazil and that, according to Moro, are connected to each other.

"Organized crime uses corruption to obtain impunity and is linked to a good part of the homicides", explained the head of the Justice portfolio.

For its part, the newspaper La República, of Peru, reported that President Jair Bolsonaro sent a message in which he labeled as "timid" the previous governments in the face of crime and violence in Brazil, as well as "effusive in social victimization. of the criminal".

"This is over!" The Brazilian government declares war on organized crime, "moral war, legal war, war of combat", said the president, from the hospital where he is hospitalized after an operation on the abdomen, with the one that seeks to reduce the damages caused by the stab wound that one of its contractors gave him during his electoral campaign.

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What is this project about?

What the Government of Brazil is looking for with this plan, is to make the possibility of impunity in the country less viable, and to harden the sentences and judicial conditions for the criminal organizations that operate in the main areas of the Brazilian territory.

For example, one of the most important points is that it would allow incarcerating the criminals found guilty in the second instance, this without having to comply with filters that exist today such as the approval of higher courts.

"Currently, the Supreme Court allows the prison to begin executing after the conviction in the second instance, although it must be ordered by each court," explains Clarín.

Another point is to allow the treatment of illegal financing of electoral campaigns from the criminal code and not just the electoral one. "It is important that we reduce corruption in Brazil because that empties the public resources that are important to deal with these other issues, such as violent crime and organized crime," Moro added.

Authority abuse?

However, there is a measure that has aroused the concern of human rights defenders, because the plan set out by the minister could allow a more kindly contemplation with the police officers who commit murder in the midst of their service.

This point will be valid, as long as the judges who treat the subject consider that the uniformed one assassinated his opponent, for a question of "fear, surprise or violent emotion".

For several experts, this measure could lead to an abuse of authority by the Brazilian police over citizenship. "The new bill could encourage an increase in unjustifiable killings by the police", said the director of Human Rights Watch, José Miguel Vivanco.

"That would antagonize the communities whose cooperation the police desperately need to fight crime, and will fuel a cycle of violence that puts everyone at risk", Vivanco concluded.

However, before these "superstitions" the Minister of Justice said that this "is not a license to kill", but as "defense" to the crime, according to statements collected by the newspaper El Colombiano.

LatinAmerican Post | Christopher Ramírez Hernández

Translated from "¿Defensa o abuso? La polémica ley de Brasil contra el crimen organizado"